Presidential hopeful Akwasi Addai Odike has reiterated his view of the insignificance of by-elections in the country, specifically on the upcoming exercise in the Akwatia Constituency to elect a new Member of Parliament to occupy the vacant seat.
Odike, who has long advocated for the scrapping of constituency by-elections, believes the outcome of the Akwatia contest will not bring any meaningful change in Parliament.
“Let me tell you this, whether the NPP or the NDC wins the Akwatia by-election, it will not change anything because the NDC already occupies two-thirds of the majority, and the addition of the Akwatia seat will still make them the majority. And for the NPP, even if they lose, it will not change their minority status,” he said.
Odike was speaking on Monday, September 1, 2025, on Angel TV, on the subject of the Akwatia by-election scheduled for September 2, following the demise of the late Ernest Kumi.
The firebrand politician added that the lack of productivity among MPs is the real issue, not which party wins or loses a by-election.
“But the most thing is that what does a Ghanain MP brings on board going to Parliament. They are only for taking blog decisions, whenever the NDC’s says, the NPP follows and the same thing Whenever the NPP says the NDC follows – they have become ‘zone bi.’
“The ideas they intend taking to Parliament are drop behind Parliament’s gate and replace it with parties ideologie to the extent that if they give them a divergent view, their parliamentary whip system will give their parties power to whip in line.
He questioned that “So I’m here to understands why they go to Parliament to serve the interets of their political parties in the expense of serving their constituents.”
Odike said such practices among Ghanaian parliamentarians would not help the country’s democratic system with the monopoly enjoyed by the National Democratic Congress and New Patroitic Party.
He therefore called on the public to consider the Union Government in the next election to help change the mindset of MPs on governance, stressing that partisanship does not contribute anything meaningful to national progress.
“Partisanship will not help us because even if we become more dependent on such practice in the next 100 years, Ghana will not see any development,” he said.
