Political Parties Must Respect Their Constitutions-Dr. Amakye Boateng

Political scientist Dr. Kwesi Amakye has urged political parties to respect their constitutions to prevent MPs from contesting as independents in an interview with Lantam Papanko on GHOne TV. This also occurs amidst political tensions in the House of Parliament in Ghana following an indefinite adjournment of proceedings by the Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin on 22nd October 2024. This occurred after the New Patriotic Party and the National Democratic Congress failed to agree on which caucus holds the Majority.

Speaker Bagbin announced that the Supreme Court had instructed him to suspend his earlier ruling declaring four parliamentary seats vacant. The controversies over the vacant seats relate to MPs who, despite party instructions to do otherwise, opted to stand as independents.

Dr. Amakye emphasized the need for political parties to better enforce their internal rules and constitutions. He said that there have been huge internal conflicts in the recent past, the examples being Paul Afoko, Kwabena Agyapong, and Allan Kyerematen. All these figures never openly rebelled by contesting as independents, but the disgruntlement of dissatisfaction from internal party processes and how primaries were conducted is very well apparent.

Dr. Amakye called for the political parties to ensure that their internal constitutions did not have any problems to avert dissatisfaction. He said respect for the rights of party members and openness in the leadership process could keep the parties united. If not, more MPs might break away to stand as independents-a factor that destabilizes the parties and Parliament itself.

Respecting internal structures and the rights of members will be key in preventing fragmentation as Ghanaian political parties evolve.