Leaders no longer have control in parliament, backbenchers have taken over – Joewise

First Deputy Speaker of Parliament Joseph Osei Owusu (Joewise) has indicated that backbenchers in Parliament are now taking over the role of leaders in the House.

He stated that at the moment, it is the backbenchers who usually raise issues on the floor of the House instead of the leaders.

Speaking to journalists in Parliament on Thursday, July 20, the Bekwai lawmaker said “Today, young people are in control, they look at things differently from the rest of us. Even when their leaders agree to do it, it is always people from the back bench who come to raise these issues, not the leaders.

“What it means is that indeed, at this time in the Parliament of Ghana, leaders don’t have control, the back bench has control. So the number of backbenchers and the orientation of the backbench you will bring in, we could determine what you will get.”

He further observed that he got it wrong when he earlier indicated that the hung parliament, 137-137 for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and an independent lawmaker, was good for Ghana.

He said it has proven to be bad for cooperation in the House.

He appealed to Ghanaians that whenever they decide to give either side the Majority, they should give a large majority.

“Let me also say that Ghanaians should give each side they decide to give the majority, a large majority.

“When parliament got this close, I said that it would make cooperation better, unfortunately, I was wrong, it has made cooperation worse, it has brought out the worst in each of us and we are getting the worst performance.”