There is the need to have the Majority Leader of parliament as the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, Minister-designate for Parliamentary Affairs, has said.
According to him, the involvement of the Majority Leader in the day-to-day administration of the country would give him a fair idea of how the government would be running in order to be able to move Members of Parliament along with those policies.
Speaking during his vetting by the Appointments Committee of Parliament on Monday, February 6, he said: “In the Westminster system, all ministers come from parliament. Ministers necessarily have to perform oversight functions, so in the Westminster system ministers, because they have to perform their function of overseeing the executive, still do that in other committees other their own sectors.
“In our own jurisdiction since 1993, we have had the Majority Leaders double up as ministers. The honourable JH Owusu-Acheampong was Minister for Parliamentary Affairs. He continued to 1997 until midstream when it changed and Dr Kwabena Adjei replaced him. They were all Majority Leaders and Ministers for Presidential Affairs. We continued the tradition under JH Mensah, followed through with Papa Owusu Ankomah and Felix Owusu Agyapong, then the Honourable Abraham Osei Aidoo. It is the Honourable Alban Bagbin who, because of some developments, indicated that if the NDC won he would insist that the Majority Leader was not made a Minister of State in charge of parliamentary affairs and that indeed continued under the two NDC administrations.”
He added: “As the Majority Leader if your party controls the executive, you become the leader of government business. If you become the leader of government business, you need to understand what government business is, you should be part of the evolution of the policies and programmes of government, not necessarily being a cabinet minister but at least you should be there to understand the bolts and nuts of its creation in order that when you lead business in parliament you will not only sound convincing but you sound persuasive in order to be able to carry your people along.”
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