Ghana’s 9th Parliament: The task ahead Dr John Osae-Kwapong

At midnight on January 7, 2025, Ghanaians witnessed the inauguration of the 9th Parliament following the successful completion of the country’s ninth election since the transition to constitutional rule in 1992.

Whatever our expectations are of this new Parliament, I invite you to reflect with me on some critical institutional issues in need of solutions. 

Context

First, let me reiterate the fact that Parliament is a representative institution where each Member of Parliament (MP) represents a group of Ghanaians from a specific geographic area called a constituency. In principle, whatever the 276 MPs do, must reflect the will of the people they represent. They must devise a way to give effect to this democratic principle. But in doing so MPs should know what their constituents want. They must ensure whatever decisions emanate from Parliament benefit their constituents. I reckon the difficulty of representation, especially when Parliament as a collective body may take a decision an individual MP or their constituents oppose. 

Second, citizens have expectations of their MPs. A close look at various election year reports by the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) does show citizens expect MPs to not only be lawmakers but to also bring about socio-economic development in their respective constituencies (see NCCE’s Matters of Concern To The Ghanaian Voter). It is, therefore, odd when some MPs argue regularly that they are not development agents. Be that as it may, that argument must be reconciled with the expectations of those they represent.

Institutional issues in need of solutions

Restoring trust must be prioritised. It is quite worrying to observe the dwindling trust expressed in MPs by citizens, a relationship that requires a healthy amount of it. What does it say about the institution and its members when the percentage of Ghanaians who say they trust their MP “somewhat/a lot”, has dropped significantly from 68 per cent in 2005 to 26 per cent in 2024 as captured by the Afrobarometer survey? With this level of trust, it is easy to conclude that nine elections later, citizens do not believe their MPs truly represent their interests.

It should come as no surprise then when citizens report not contacting their MPs to discuss important issues with them. This is the second issue in need of attention – improving the frequency of contact between citizens and their MPs. In a 2009 study on the performance of the Fourth Parliament, the NCCE found that as many as seven out of 10 (67%) Ghanaians reported “never” approaching their MPs on any issue. 

This is consistent with findings from the Afrobarometer survey, which shows that over nine rounds of the survey between 2002 and 2024, 85 per cent of Ghanaians do state “never” contacting their MPs. In the absence of frequent contact, how do MPs gain a sense of what their constituents expect of them?

Contacting MPs

While trust may underpin the lack of frequent contact, the next issue in need of attention is the availability of multiple points of contact which citizens can use to reach their MPs. Dr Owusu Mensah, formerly of the Department of Political Science, Legon, noted this in his 2019 study of Parliament – “several constituents are concerned about the continued absence of their MPs from their communities, they (the MPs) must, therefore, improve their levels of interaction and communication with their constituents”.

Creating these multiple points of contact can help improve the current perception of MPs as people who do not listen. 

How can an MP serve and represent the interests of a constituency well if they do not listen? In Round 10 (2024) of the Afrobarometer survey, 82 per cent said their MPs “only sometimes/never” listen to what they have to say, which is higher when compared to their response in 2002 where 73 per cent said about their MPs. 

And MPs must, whether by their actions or inactions, work in this new Parliament to change the growing perception that they are corrupt. As far back as Afrobarometer Round 3 (2005) only 16 per cent of Ghanaians believed “most/all” MPs as being involved in corruption. Now compare that to Round 10 (2024) where 51 per cent say “most/all” MPs are involved in corruption. This is certainly not helpful in building the kind of positive relationship between citizens and their MPs.

Conclusion

Our democracy needs a strong Parliament and these issues potentially undermine that strength. Members of the 9th Parliament must not overlook these issues. They must keep in mind that in addition to the above-described pinch points, Ghanaians are very dissatisfied with the performance of Parliament. For an institution that once enjoyed a 65 per cent approval rating (Afrobarometer Round 3, 2005), today only 32 per cent approved the performance of MPs (Afrobarometer Round 10, 2024).
Good luck to the 9th Parliament.

The writer is the Director of the Democracy Project.