Former Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Mike Oquaye, has attributed the declining effectiveness of Parliament’s oversight role to excessive executive influence and entrenched political patronage, warning that the current system rewards loyalty to the Presidency rather than accountability to the people.
In an interview on Channel One TV, Prof. Oquaye said many Members of Parliament from governing parties now prioritise personal ambition over their constitutional duties, thereby undermining Parliament’s ability to check executive power.
According to him, the lure of ministerial appointments has shifted MPs’ focus away from legislative scrutiny and toward efforts to please the President.
“No wonder Parliament cannot be a check on the Executive. The Member of Parliament whose party is in power is more anxious to catch the eye of the President to become a Minister than to catch the eye of the Speaker,” he stated.
Prof. Oquaye noted that this distorted incentive structure has weakened parliamentary engagement, contributing to poor attendance and ineffective oversight.
“No wonder most of the time Parliament is virtually empty, because the system has no countervailing mechanisms,” he added.
He further explained that the overconcentration of power at the Presidency has redirected lawmakers’ attention away from Parliament and towards the Executive.
“And you find everybody looking towards the one and only source, that is the Jubilee House,” he said.
The former Speaker cautioned that unless deliberate structural reforms are introduced to strengthen Parliament’s independence, the imbalance between the Legislature and the Executive will persist, further weakening democratic accountability.
His remarks have reignited calls for constitutional and institutional reforms aimed at insulating Parliament from executive dominance and restoring its role as an effective watchdog over government power.
