First Deputy Speaker of Parliament Joseph Osei Owusu (Joewise) has said political parties in Ghana who have representations in Parliament have failed to groom young ones for leadership roles hence the brawls seen in Parliament.
He expressed worry that in the next two or three Parliaments if the conduct of young ones are not checked by their parties, the Chamber of Parliament will turn into a boxing arena.
Speaking in an interview with TV3’s Evelyne Tengmaa on the number of young people who have picked the parliamentary forms of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in an attempt to get into Parliament, Mr Osei Owusu who is one of the longest-serving lawmakers stated that the level of the decorum when he entered parliament compared to the current situation is not the same.
The Bekwai Member of Parliament said “Sometimes the parties even go out to recruit people who have not demonstrated that they have the intellectual and social capacity to be public officers, because they are popular they can win the seat, that appears to be the only consideration that parties give to people who are going to contest the seats.
“The parties which have the responsibility to groom people before they become representatives here are not doing anything. Unfortunately, it appears to me that those who are vile in the choice of their language, those who are rude in their attitude towards their opponents and sometimes internal opponents, and those who can make the most catching comments about others are gaining more popularity and they are being put in front.
“The level of decorum I observed when I joined [Parliament] and what I observed today, there is a vast difference. If you ask me, it is a bad reflection of young people coming into the chamber. I am afraid that if we don’t curb it now, in the next two or three Parliaments we will not have a parliament, we will have a boxing ring.”
By Laud Nartey|3news.com|Ghana