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Several MPs from the new NDC administration are expected to become redundant, according to Majority Leader Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin.
He claims that many of the National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) members of parliament will be marginalized in their efforts to operate a lean administration.
John Dramani Mahama pledged to lead a lean administration by halving the number of ministers, including their deputies, in contrast to President Akufo-Addo, who selected 120 ministers.
The Member of Parliament for Effutu claims that with 60 ministers, the majority of NDC lawmakers will be inactive due to the party’s resounding two-thirds majority.
According to the congressman, only about 35 to 40 NDC MPs will be selected to ministry positions, leaving about 140 MPs unemployed. The NDC already controls more than 180 seats in the upcoming Parliament, which explains this.
He points out that since they might not have the positions or responsibilities they had hoped for, the surviving MPs will become essentially meaningless in the legislative process. With a resounding majority in parliament, the NDC has pledged to run a lean government.
Many of their MPs will likely become redundant, in my opinion. He stated on JoyNews Wednesday, December 17, 2024, “They promised 60 ministers, and out of that, some will have to come from Parliament because of the constitutional custom.”
If you subtract that from their more than 170 seats, they will have 140 MPs who are superfluous in parliament and all they would need to do is come to parliament to “yeeye” (hear hear), he said. “So they are going to have about 35 or a maximum of 40 MPs who will be ministers and deputy ministers.”
Additionally, Afenyo-Markin stated that he expects an NDC majority to be tense since most MPs will not have the resources necessary to satisfy the demands of their people.
He recalled the challenges the present majority faced, saying that it reached a point where it was hard for their MPs to come to Parliament and that he expects the new majority to experience the same thing.
These Members of Parliament will be expected to visit their constituents and make demands of them. Only a select few have been appointed as ministers, and that is where their fights will begin, so the money won’t be there.
“We had comparable issues. At one time, Mr. Speaker would say, “Leader, look behind you,” making it extremely difficult to bring our members into the chamber. He said, “I will tell their majority leader to look behind him very soon. Even though you have more than 170 MPs, they won’t be there.”
