George Arthur, a former New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Amenfi Central Constituency in the Western Region, has revealed that the motive behind the mad rush for parliamentary seats, especially by government appointees has been ‘security’, prestige, international exposure and money.
He explained that “key government appointees are rushing to parliament not just for “security” but also for prestige, international exposure and money in the unlikely event that the NPP loses the 2020 general election, the appointees, if elected to parliament, will be protected.
Mr Arthur’s comment comes at a time when some government appointees have expressed interest in contesting the NPP parliamentary primaries in September which includes Professor Kwesi Yankah, the Minister of State in-Charge of Tertiary Education, Messrs Abu Jinapor and Francis Asenso-Boakye, the two deputy chief of staffs, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Free Zones Authority, Michael Okyere Baafi and the CEO of the Nation Builders Corps, Dr Ibrahim Anyars.
According to Mr Arthur, “there have been a lot of speculations about their motive since they hold very key positions in the government, if anyone tells you he is going to parliament to serve the state, it is a lie, he only wants to serve his party and constituency”.
Citing himself as an example, the former MP indicated that “as then member of many committees in parliament, I used to travel a lot but now as a former MP, I have not traveled for the past three years, the juicy benefits you get as an MP are what drive many professionals to fight for seats”. -adomonline.com
