A Communications Team Member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Upper East Region, Edmund Awuni, has called on constituents to assess the performance of Members of Parliament (MPs) based on their constitutional responsibilities, not just the promises they make during election campaigns.
Speaking in an interview on A1 Radio, Mr Awuni said there was a need for voters to distinguish between the core mandate of MPs and the additional efforts they make to attract development to their constituencies.
“We need to, as the case is, look at what the constitution says about the role of an mp, and what they themselves tell the people, the electorates, when they come round to campaign because they should know better.”
He explained that MPs are expected to represent the interests of their constituents in Parliament, influence policy decisions and lobby government officials, particularly sector ministers, to secure development interventions for their communities. “When they are in Accra there, they are supposed to be the people who can move to a minister in charge of a particular sector and say “look, my people deserve this” because you are representing their interest.”
According to Mr Awuni, he observed that political campaigns have increasingly shifted public expectations towards infrastructural development, with voters often judging MPs primarily by the physical projects they deliver rather than their constitutional duties.
He attributed this situation partly to promises made by politicians during election campaigns, which create expectations that constituents demand to be fulfilled once the politicians assume office. “It looks like the MPs have also helped the electorates or the citizens to shift their responsibilities from what their core mandate is, to just development-driven,” he said.
He noted that although the constitutional mandate of MPs should remain central to evaluating their performance, their responsibility to facilitate development cannot be completely overlooked, particularly given the resources allocated to constituencies through the District Assemblies Common Fund –an avenue for MPs to support developmental projects in their respective constituencies.
“Why did they give them their share of the common fund? It is also for developmental projects. So it is not entirely the case that they have nothing to do with bringing development to their place. The constitution foresaw that there is the need for that number one influencer in that constituency, to be able to bring development to his place.”
He urged politicians to be realistic when making campaign promises, stressing that MPs must clearly communicate what they can deliver to avoid raising expectations they may struggle to meet. “Going forward, every MP should be measured when they are promising the people what they can do.”
He added that fulfilling campaign promises is essential to building public trust and credibility in Ghana’s political system.
Source: Bolgafmonline.com| 102.7 MHz| Gifty Eyram Kudiabor
