The African Center for Parliamentary Affairs (ACEPA) says plans to secure office facilities for Members of Parliament in their respective constituencies is laudable and must be made a reality.

The Executive Director of ACEPA, Rashid Draman, in an interview on Eyewitness News, said having these offices for MPs will address the issue of accessibility of parliamentarians and ensure their proper representation of the local people.

“I am for it… Your constituents may find you at the hospital or on the street, but that is not how to structure representation. I think we need to at all cost have a place where when if you want to meet your MP or when you have issues, you can go to. Even if your MP is not present, there is a structure through which he can be reached,” he said.

It came to the fore earlier this week that the government had allocated some GH¢ 45.5 million to be used to secure office facilities for some MPs in their constituencies.

The said amount caters for the first phase of the project which is intended to provide constituency offices for all the 275 MPs by 2024.

A report of the Special Budget Committee of Parliament, presented to the plenary on Tuesday, said the Parliamentary Service intended “to construct 70 of such offices annually so that by the end of 2024, all 275 Constituencies will be provided.”

The development has been greeted with mixed reactions with some persons including the immediate past Tamale Central Member of Parliament, Inusah Fuseini kicking against it.

According to him, because MPs are part of the country’s local assembly system, metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies can provide offices for the legislators.

But according to ACEPA, providing the MPs with offices will represent major progress in Ghana’s democracy where citizens can easily engage with their Members of Parliament.

Rashid Draman said, “when MPs have their offices, their work is structured and representation is properly done. If we say we are representatives of the people and the people don’t know where to find us, then there is a problem.”

He however suggested that there are many examples Ghana can look at including Zambia and Botswana.

“This is late in coming, and I hope that parliament can get this through this time around,” he concluded.