UG Survey Report: Ghanaians Not Abreast With Function of MPs—Dr Osae

Dr. Eric Oduro Osae, governance expert expressed dismayed that after 25 years of democratic governance many Ghanaians still do not understand the function of a Member of Parliament (MP).

According to him, findings of the research conducted by the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana has exposed how many of the citizenry lacked knowledge and understanding on governance.

The research revealed that if elections were held today, about 49.5 per cent of Ghanaians will vote out their Members of Parliament (MPs) due to their poor performance.

The survey also revealed that 42.6 per cent of the respondents are ready to retain their MPs with 7.9 per cent of the respondents undecided about whom to vote for.

The survey attributed this to the failure on the part of MPs to visit their constituencies regularly and also embark on developmental projects.

It appeared most of the citizens seem to place more premium on seeing their MPs champion developmental projects

Many of the MPs have challenged the survey results, arguing that either the Researcher or the respondents do not know the key function of their MPs are to make laws, though visiting their constituency is part of their work.

The Legislators faulted the researchers for focusing on the constituency developments instead of the primary function of MPs of enacting laws.

Commenting on the issue on TV3 The Key Point programme Saturday, June 15, Dr. Oduro Osae stated that the response from the survey simply means that many Ghanaians lacked understanding of the real function of parliamentarians.

The governance experts attributed the poor knowledge on MPs function to lack of sensitization, stressing that the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) must be equipped with the necessary resources to carry out public education on the role of MPs in the country.

Dr Clement Apaak, MP for Builsa South and Andrew Egyapa Mercer, MP for Sekondi, who were on the program faulted the Researchers for failing to get a response from the MPs.

According to Dr Apaak, except few Constituencies that are smaller, majority are that are the biggest Constituencies is practically impossible for an MP to visit a Constituency and everyone see him or her.

Andrew Egyepa said, though they are not against research on MPs, the Researcher should seek the MP views as while, as that could have enriched the report with fairness and balance.

But General Nunoo Mensah (Rtd) disagreed with the lawmaker's aid, the Research captured the true reflection of the current trend on politics and that the MPs should know and appreciate the fact that, they have constituents.