Opinion: Its perfect time for 5-term Ho West MP to bow out

As Honourable Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah approaches the completion of his 20th year in Parliament at the end of 2028, having dominated the political scene in the Ho West Constituency for the past two decades, it is timely to consider the factors that have driven this lengthy tenure.

One of these factors is notably not the widespread appreciation, admiration, or preference of the constituency’s people. Inarguably, Hon. Bedzrah’s previous four terms, which began in January 2009 and concluded in December 2024, were not particularly impactful on the lives of the constituents.

During that period, he faced challenges from numerous contestants and encountered persistent complaints from party members, particularly the youth, regarding his uneventful participation in parliamentary proceedings, the insignificant progress in the constituency’s development, and his overly long stay in Parliament.

It is even believed that many of the youth in the constituency have left the NDC and joined the NPP due to their frustration with the MP’s continuous presence in office.

In response to the concerns of the constituents and the intense competition from many ambitious contenders, he consistently promised party delegates during each of his primary campaigns for his third, fourth, and fifth terms that he would not contest the subsequent primary.

Unfortunately, he failed to uphold his previous promises to step aside, and he nevertheless managed to win all subsequent primaries through a political selection process that often lends itself to illegitimate machinations, tricks, and manipulations, and does not necessarily result in electing the best candidate.

He possesses the advantage of both a deep pocket (financial strength) and incumbency—the two most important factors in elections in Ghana in recent times. His team boasts of mastery in always leveraging these factors unduly to his advantage.

Though many constituents are anxious to see a new face to represent them in the next Parliament after 20 years of just one person, whom they are not very satisfied with, and though the MP himself had again, as usual, promised in his last primary campaign that his fifth term would be his last in Parliament, it shall not surprise anyone if he takes back his promise again and decides to run for a sixth term, and could easily win a sixth primary as a result of the two advantages of tremendous wealth and incumbency.

Though he did not receive an appointment as a Minister of State as he had assured constituents of during the last general campaign, thanks to the government of President John Mahama, which is providing a lot of resources to Members of Parliament and to the District Assemblies, Hon. Emmanuel Bedzrah serves as the Chairman of the GETFUND Board. Hon. Bedzrah is also the chairman of the parliamentary committee on Energy.

In addition to these, he has been able to fix a number of his staunch supporters into reasonably good positions and employment, and he has managed to get his long-time friend and political strategist appointed as the DCE of the district.

He also has a great number of his loyalists in various sensitive constituency executive positions. These appear to have given him an edge and even more access to money and resources than previously to play the parliamentary primary game even better than before.

But in spite of the seeming super advantage that he may have on account of access to resources and by placing his favorites in leadership at the local government and of the party in the district, the view of this author, who is speaking for most citizens, is that it is important for Hon. Bedzrah to eschew greed and selfish interest, whether of him personally or of some of his followers, and instead take into account the utmost interest of the NDC in the constituency, and bow out of the next primary gracefully, allowing others to ascend to the office of Parliament after his 20-year reign.

The unity and cohesion of the party, and the motivation of the youth to remain in the party and work for its victory and progress in the next elections and beyond, must be paramount for him and all true comrades of the NDC.

After all, no Member of Parliament from the constituency has ever served for more than three terms. In this Fourth Republic, the first MP was in Parliament for just one term. The second served for three terms, and now the third, who, incidentally, is Honourable Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah, is currently serving his fifth term in Parliament.

Undoubtedly, the NDC delegates and the people of the Ho West Constituency have treated Hon. Bedzrah marvelously well, and it would be very fitting for the MP to show gratitude to the people and bow out graciously, allowing someone else, hopefully from any of the other traditional areas in the constituency that have not yet produced a Member of Parliament, to take their turn.

Luckily, with the amount of resources expected to pass through the hands of the Honourable MP for use in the development of the constituency, coupled with the fact that he has in place a district leadership of his choice, he may be able to achieve a lot for the district in his fifth term and use the occasion to depart in style, paving the way for new leadership to continue from where he leaves off.

It is said that the best time to bow out is when the applause is loudest. We hope that instead of listening to those who, for their various undisclosed personal interests, may want him to hang on to power longer, the MP will consider the views expressed here seriously and act with maturity, exiting in celebration to keep our party united for the battle ahead of us in 2028 and beyond.

Justice Asemsro-Nfodjo

Researcher and Freethinker

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