Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu reflects on parliament, governance, and galamsey fight
Former Majority Leader of Parliament, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has offered candid reflections on Ghana’s political landscape, touching on the challenges of minority leadership, the need to rethink ministerial appointments, and the shortcomings of past efforts to tackle illegal mining.
In an interview on Joy News’ AM Show, Bonsu praised the resilience of New Patriotic Party (NPP) lawmakers now serving in opposition. He likened their situation to the party’s early days in the 1997 Parliament, when the NPP held just 61 seats in a 200-member chamber. With support from smaller parties, their numbers rose to 67, barely enough to challenge the majority. “But let me just say that they are doing their best under very difficult circumstances,” he said. “Today, the majority has two-thirds, and the NPP alone is just as it was in the 1997 Parliament. It’s a difficult enterprise.”
Beyond the numerical disadvantage, Bonsu raised concerns about how Parliament itself is evolving. He argued that too many MPs see legislative service as a stepping stone to cabinet positions, weakening the institution’s independence. “Many people are coming to Parliament now to use Parliament as a springboard to be made ministers. If he’s not made a minister, more or less, he withdraws from Parliament. And it’s not good for the evolution and development of Parliament,” he said. He stressed that ministerial appointments should be based on professional competence rather than political convenience, criticizing frequent reshuffles that move ministers across sectors without regard for expertise. “You appoint a minister to a sector, interrogate that person for his proficiency in that field, and then one year later, he’s shuffled out and taken to another sector. Nobody knows his proficiency in agriculture, for instance. We are inflicting this on ourselves,” he added.
On the issue of illegal mining, Bonsu admitted that the previous government’s approach was flawed. “The galamsey fight from a principal position was a very good thing. But the method employed in the fight, was it the best?” he asked. He explained that burning excavators at mining sites created resentment in affected communities. “You went for their excavators, and you burnt them on site. The people will be angry with you,” he said. While insisting that Ghana must take a firm stand against galamsey, he emphasized the need for a clear national policy. “As a country, we should have a policy to stop galamsey. What we did, the method that we employed, I would say, was not the best,” he added.
Bonsu linked the strategy to electoral consequences, noting that the NPP lost significant support in mining constituencies. He pointed to broader factors behind the party’s defeat, including external shocks such as the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, governance challenges, internal party issues, and campaign resource distribution. He highlighted the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) as a major source of voter anger. “Government, at one time, resorted to this Domestic Debt Exchange Programme. Do you know how many people were affected? Over 800,000 people were affected. Now, the 840,000 people who were domestic bondholders, assuming each person had one dependent, the number was almost the 1.7 million that we lost by. They were angry,” he said.
On Dr Mahamudu Bawumia’s role in the party’s electoral defeat, Bonsu said it was fair to attribute responsibility to him as leader but rejected claims that ethnicity, religion, or regional issues were to blame. “If we had won, it would have been attributed to him that under his leadership we won. So if we fail and people accuse that under his leadership we have lost, I will agree,” he said. “To put everything around his neck, especially these things relating to his ethnicity, his religion and Bawku, those things are not factual.”
Through his reflections, Bonsu underscored the need for stronger parliamentary independence, competence-driven governance, and a coherent national policy to tackle illegal mining, reforms he believes are essential for Ghana’s democratic and economic future.
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