Clement Akoloh, Director of Communications at Parliamentary Network Africa, says any credible assessment of lawmakers must go beyond their visibility in their constituencies to include their core parliamentary duties.
His comment follows the release of a new performance poll by Global Info Analytics on the 9th Parliament of Ghana, which ranked Members of Parliament (MPs) based largely on constituency-level perception.
Speaking in an interview, Akoloh said while the survey serves a specific purpose, it does not fully reflect the multifaceted roles of MPs in the legislative house.
“It is fitted for a certain purpose that they are pursuing. But when you come to parliamentary work, for it to qualify to properly be a performance for the Members of Parliament, then it entails more,” he explained.
He noted that MPs have multiple responsibilities, including representation, lawmaking, and oversight, which must all be considered when assessing their performance.
“If we are doing a performance for the Members of Parliament, then we must have certain percentages allocated to some of these areas so that in the rounded figure we will be able to know how the members are performing based on this particular criterion,” Akoloh added.
He also observed that some MPs who are highly active in parliamentary debates and lawmaking surprisingly scored low in their constituencies, suggesting a gap between their legislative work and how constituents perceive their performance.
Clement Akoloh further indicated that the poll provides useful insights for MPs, urging them to balance their work in Parliament with visibility and impact at the constituency level.
“From what I’m hearing, it means some constituents are not fully aware of the duties of their parliamentarians and may not be able to assess them properly, except on the issue of visibility,” he stated.
The recent poll has reignited conversations about how parliamentary performance is measured in Ghana, with some analysts calling for more comprehensive assessment frameworks that factor in both legislative and constituency roles.
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