<<Print>>

Minority Leader of Parliament, Hon Haruna Iddrisu has lamented that monetization of politics will undermine the entire democratic process as it will deny the people of Ghana their democratic dividends.

According to the Tamale Central Member of Parliament, the monetization of politics is slowly destroying the stability of Parliament, putting the democracy of the country in danger.

Hon Haruna Iddrisu addressing a gathering at a forum on the need to nurture career legislators explained that the scourge has affected parliamentary activities including laws regarding vigilantism “and our inability to punish it.”

“More recently, the monetization of our democracy that will not only create an unstable parliament but will undermine the entire democratic process and denying the people of Ghana what is described as democratic dividends,” he said.

The Minority Leader further cried out that many people have lost the interest in the real work of lawmaking in the current parliament as politics has been left for those with enough money to buy votes during elections.

“It appears today that democracy in Ghana is on sale when it comes to competitive democratic politics. If you were to ask me to make an assessment, even when it comes to legislative drafting, I cannot count more than six to 10 members of parliament, particularly among the young ones that we call newcomers. I probably can narrow down to only 5 newcomers who are interested in the rudiments of lawmaking,” he lamented.

Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu in support of the claim of the Minority Leader also said that the work of lawmaking requires a lot of experience insisting on the need for MPs to stay longer in the house to execute their mandates effectively.

“Coming to terms with lawmaking is not a one-term or two-term business. The longer a person stays in parliament, the better he becomes in this endeavor,” he added.