First Deputy Speaker Joseph Osei-Owusu, a Bekwai member of parliament, has disclosed that he was forced to quit parliament due to unreasonable demands from his constituency. Joseph Osei-Owusu stated in an exclusive interview with EIB Network‘s Parliamentary Correspondent Ibrahim Alhassan that the tipping point came when locals asked him to dislodge liquid waste from the toilets he built, even though attendants were charging for the use of the facilities.
The lawmaker shook his head and with a sly grin on his face, laughter in his voice said ‘‘what is worse is, and that is the worst part. Indeed I will confess to you. One of the reasons that made me think it is enough, I’m not going to seek any public office again was some communities demanding that their public toilet is full, and if I don’t have those drained then they won’t vote. I kept asking myself, was it all worth it?”
The 4 term lawmaker who entered Parliament as an Independent Candidate and later switched to the New Patriotic Party will no longer return to the house of the legislature next year.
There has been much speculation as to why a legislator of his quality, sitting in what political pundits would refer to as a “safe seat,” would give up on his parliamentary career. It appears that he made the decision to quit because of some irrational requests from certain people.
He added, “the first thing is that, it is your personal responsibility to provide a toilet facility for yourself. Now for some reason we use the state money to build one. It’s been given to you, you use it, it’s full, you come back and drain it for me else I won’t vote! Somebody has not even gotten a toilet at all”.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM
