Tracking the Performance of Members of Parliament

Members of Parliament, in the quest to perform their mandatory obligations go through different forms of formal and informal institutional pressure; pressure from the government and the citizens of the country. It is well known that Parliamentarians’ basic function is law making. However, other functions include executive oversight and citizenry representation. They see to it that executive activities are scrutinized; representing all citizens by means of giving a voice to all.

One factor that can contribute to improving the performance of MPs is the regular assessment of their public standing through public opinion surveys. Self-assessment can aid in building public confidence and strengthen the capacity of Parliamentarians to manage increasing demands.

Tracking the performance of MPs in Ghana, as in many other countries is quite challenging since no frameworks exist for assessing their performance. They further face several challenges that hinder their performance legislatively. Some of these challenges include;

• Lack of infrastructure and other resources: Infrastructure projects that encompass road construction, bridges and highways are highly capital intensive and funding is considered as a major impediment in achieving its goals. The lack of proper planning from the authorities, resources, delivery of material, plant and equipment, shortage of skilled laborers and many others are the major challenges that prevent proper performance delivery from the MPs.
• Party loyalty: Some MPs who tend to be loyal to a party they are affiliated to choose to focus more on their love for the party, neglecting their responsibilities in their constituencies. When such things happen, it dwindle their performance.
• Lack of adequate financial support: Most often than not, minority MPs lack the financial support to develop their constituencies. This is largely due to the fact that their party is not the one in government so mobilizing of funds for developmental projects become very difficult, thereby causing challenges in their performance.
• Corruption: On the issue of corruption, some MPs use their positions to accrue wealth for themselves without focusing on the promises made to their constituents. This way, they forget about their core mandates leaving the populace or citizenry to suffer.

This negligence and many other challenges hinder the performance of MPs. Parliamentarians need to sit up and do what is expected of them. The nation’s multi-party democracy needs to be built by the legislature (MPs). It however necessary for constituents to take serious measures so as to ensure an effective performance from these legislative bodies. Some of these measures should include:

• Demanding feedback and progress reports from their parliamentarians.
• Should have community discussions on pressing national issues.
• Should threaten them with voting them out if they do not perform better.
• Should demonstrate to register their displeasure whenever their MPs are not performing.