A Parliamentary expert is asking Members of Parliament to check the promises they make while campaigning, in order that it will not be an albatross on their necks while in office as MPs.
Dr Rashid Draman is even more concerned about the lifestyles some MPs lead in office which make them appear opulent and easy targets for electorate some of whom demand monies from them.
His comments come at a time MPs are dreading the possibility of leaving sedentary lives after Parliament.
After a four year tenure which began with a mountain of promises to electorate, some MPs will be leaving Parliament, never to return again.
The MPs who are on a GHC7,200 salary are worried about job opportunities when their parliamentary service comes to an end with Parliament set to rise for on Thursday.
Even before the December 7 parliamentary elections, 21 New Patriotic Party (NPP) MPs are not coming back to parliament after losing their party primaries last June.
On the Majority caucus, more than 16 incumbent National Democratic Congress (NDC) MPs suffered similar fate in the party’s primaries in November 2015.
The MPs fear they will become paupers and are calling for mechanisms to be put in place to support MPs even when they are out of office.
The NDC MP for Central Tongu Constituency in the Volta Region, Joe Giddisu who will spend his last day in parliament Thursday acknowledged that finding a befitting job is a major concern.
He said economic uncertainty after parliament is a major cause of deaths among former MPs.
Speaking to Joy News on the matter, Dr Rashid Draman acknowledged that the dilemma the Ghanaian MPs are facing is not unique to Ghana alone.
He said it is a continental problem, citing a similar rhetoric by a Tanzanian former Speaker.
Dr Rashid found the cultural milieu in Ghana and in Africa as a major part of the problem.
He explained while in other developed countries MPs live ordinary lives, MPs in Ghana appear to live opulent lives which make it difficult for them to adjust when they are out of office.
He said “when they leave Parliament, they think there are certain jobs they shouldn’t do,” something, he said was part of the problem.
He also insisted that Parliamentarians must be challenged to have a cause and a reason to want to be in Parliament and must have, at the very least a minimum level of education so that when they leave office they will have something to fall back on.
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