{"id":107067,"date":"2025-12-16T07:07:57","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T07:07:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=107067"},"modified":"2025-12-16T07:07:57","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T07:07:57","slug":"executive-influence-eroding-parliaments-watchdog-role-prof-oquaye","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=107067","title":{"rendered":"Executive influence eroding Parliament\u2019s watchdog role \u2013 Prof Oquaye"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='booster-block booster-read-block'>\n                <div class=\"twp-read-time\">\n                \t<i class=\"booster-icon twp-clock\"><\/i> <span>Read Time:<\/span>1 Minute, 17 Second                <\/div>\n\n            <\/div><div>\n<p>Former Speaker of Parliament, Prof Mike Oquaye, has expressed concern about what he considers a steady decline in Parliament\u2019s effectiveness as an oversight body, attributing the problem to excessive executive influence and entrenched political patronage.<\/p>\n<p>Prof Oquaye argued that many lawmakers from the ruling party prioritise securing the President\u2019s attention for potential ministerial appointments, rather than focusing on their constitutional mandate to scrutinise the executive.<\/p>\n<p>He said this misplaced incentive structure has weakened Parliament\u2019s capacity to act as a meaningful check on executive power, contributing to poor attendance and limited engagement in legislative business.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo wonder Parliament cannot be a check on the executive,\u201d he observed, pointing to what he described as a system that fails to reward independence and accountability.<\/p>\n<p>According to Prof. Oquaye, the concentration of power at the Presidency has distorted the behaviour of MPs, with many directing their energy towards Jubilee House instead of Parliament.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe 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,\u201d he said in an interview with Channel One TV.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo wonder most of the time, parliament is virtually empty, because the system has no countervailing mechanisms, and everybody is looking towards the one and only source, that is the Jubilee House,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Prof Oquaye warned that without deliberate structural reforms to strengthen parliament\u2019s autonomy and authority, the imbalance between the executive and legislature would continue to undermine democratic governance in Ghana.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n        <div class=\"booster-block booster-reactions-block\">\n            <div class=\"twp-reactions-icons\">\n                \n                <div class=\"twp-reacts-wrap\">\n                    <a react-data=\"be-react-1\" post-id=\"107067\" class=\"be-face-icons un-reacted\" href=\"javascript:void(0)\">\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" 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   <\/div>\n\n    ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myjoyonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Prof.-Oquaye-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Executive influence eroding Parliament\u2019s watchdog role \u2013 Prof Oquaye\" loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Executive influence eroding Parliament\u2019s watchdog role \u2013 Prof Oquaye\">Former Speaker of Parliament, Professor Mike Oquaye, has expressed concern over what he sees as a steady decline in Parliament\u2019s effectiveness as an oversight body, attributing the problem to excessive executive influence and entrenched political patronage.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1883,117,761,10,9,11056],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-107067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national","category-news","category-parliament","category-politics","category-popular","category-prof-oquaye"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=107067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107067\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=107067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=107067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=107067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}