Hannah Tetteh, Humado among top five absentees in Parliament
Data collated and analysed by Lolan Sagoe-Moses, a student of the University of Leeds, has provided valuable insight into the attendance culture at Ghana’s Parliament.
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The data, which Sago-Moses broke down in the article, “What has your MP done for you? Analysing MPs' effectiveness between January 2013 & July 2014”, tracked the attendance of 275 Members of Parliament (MPs) between January 2013 and July 2014.
The findings, which have been published on odekro.org, with data mining and visualisation support from Ian Gregorio de Souza and Nehemiah Attigah, reveal:
1. The average MP missed 24% of sitting days. (That amounts to a day missed out of every four days)
2. The average MP was present for 121 and absent for 37 of 158 official working days in Parliament.
During the period, the top five most regular MPs were:
1. Justice Joe Appiah (Ablekuma North) 158/158 days
2. Nelson Abudu Baani (Daboya/Mankarigu) 158/158 days
3. Christian Corletey Otuteye (Sege) 157/158 days
4. Frank Boakye Agyen (Effiduase Asokore) 155/158 days
5. Kwame Seth Achaempong (Mpraeso) 154/158 days
The top five most absent MPs were:
1. Clement Kofi Humado (Anlo) 44/158 days
2. Akwasi Opong-Fosu (Amenfi East) 44/158 days
3. Evans Paul Aidoo (Sefwi-Wiawso) 46/158 days
4. Hannah Tetteh (Awutu Senya-West) 47/158 days
5. Eric Opoku (Asunafo South) 52/158 days
With the first four of the five absentee MPs being Ministers of State and the fifth a former Minister, the data, according to Sagoe-Moses, supports the view that constitutional obligation of the President appointing 60% of Ministers from Parliament weakens the legislature.
Based on the data, which GraphicOnline has yet to independently verify, Sagoe-Moses also asserted that Article 97 clause 1 ( c ) of the Constitution was violated by several MPs without any punitive action being taken against them.
Article 97 clause 1 ( c ) states that, any MP who is absent, without the written permission of the Speaker from 15 sittings of a meeting of Parliament and is unable to offer a reasonable explanation for his absence to Parliament’s privileges committee must vacate his or her seat.
According to the data, Mr Emmanuel Akolbire Opam-Brown, MP for Bolgatanga Central, was absent without permission for 19 sittings of the 1st meeting of Parliament in 2013.
Dr. Nii Oakley Quaye-Kumah was absent without permission from 26 sittings during the 3rd meeting of Parliament in 2013 (October-December), while Nana Amoakoh, MP for Upper Denkyira, was also absent from 21 sittings.
During the 1st meeting of 2014, Mrs Della Sowah MP for Kpandoh and Miss Alijata Sulemana MP for Sissala East were each absent without permission from 15 sittings, while Mr. Wahab Suhuyini MP for Tolon was an 18-time absentee during the 2nd meeting of 2014.
Lolan Sagoe-Moses, who spent two summers interning with Ghana’s Parliament, said he sought to assess the performance of MPs based on whether MPs show up and whether they ask useful questions that keep the Executive on its toes when they do.
He said the result was disappointing as only 48 of a total of 275 elected MPs asked Ministers questions during the two-year period under review. That number represents only 17.45% of the MPs in Parliament.
Sagoe-Moses wrote that his next report would track “the performance of MPs from October 2014 till present, taking into account the statements made, questions asked and amendments contributed during the period”.
All Infographic data by: Odekro.org