
A concerning practice within Ghana’s parliamentary landscape has come under scrutiny, with calls for reforms to protect long-serving Members of Parliament (MPs) in the House of Parliament.
The growing trend of experienced MPs losing their seats to newcomers due to vote-buying during elections was a key topic on the floor of Parliament on Thursday, January 23.
The MP for Mpraeso, David Ansah Opoku, raised the issue and cited the monetization of elections as the root cause.
Contributing to the debate, the MP for Kintampo North, Hon. Joseph Kwame Kumah, highlighted a major problem where non-MP government appointees accumulate wealth to unseat MPs during party primaries.
He accused the two major political parties of fostering this practice, which he argued disadvantages MPs who dedicate their time to parliamentary duties, constituency engagement, and advancing the party’s grassroots presence.
“You will be in the house contributing, go to your constituency, attend programs, and make the party popular on the ground. Then somebody is just given an appointment, and they use their office to accumulate money. The next thing is, ‘Let me target this constituency to undo the person during primaries,’” he stated.
He further warned that if the trend continues, it will have dire consequences for the country’s democratic and legislative processes.
“Sincerely, if both political parties do not deal with the issue, it will continue to happen. We will have one-term MPs in this house, and in the long run, the country will suffer the most because we bring square pegs into round holes in this house, and the nation will lose, finally,” he stated.
Other MPs who spoke on the matter agreed, noting that inexperienced replacements often struggle to understand the complexities of parliamentary work, leading to inefficiencies in legislative duties and governance.
The growing debate has reignited calls for reforms to address the monetization of elections and ensure a fair and merit-based political process to strengthen Ghana’s parliamentary democracy.