Characteristic of Africa Watch Magazine's ratings, the 2011 ratings would not pass without stirring controversies and resentment, as some disappointed politicians roll up their sleeves to take on the magazine’s editor.
The Magazine’s 2011 Political Performance Index (PPI) on 309 Ghanaian politicians scored 18 of them the lowest possible grade - F.
The editor Steve Mallory has also refused to disclose his methodology for assessing the political heads. After last year’s ratings had sparked heated debates, some MPs who scornfully rejected the ratings dragged the editor to the Privilege Committee of the House - an invitation he ignored.
Many MPs are outraged at the audacity of the publishers to grade them a second time after they condemned the first one. MP for Sege Alfred Wallace Abayateye who inched up from C to C+ is the least enthused.
He told Joy News on Tuesday, with an angry tone, that the editor of the magazine has no moral right to rate him.
“He (Steve Mallory) has not set any question for me to write for him to grade me. He has not elected me so he has no right, he has no moral right and obligation to give a grading, whether he is giving me ‘A’ plus or ‘A’ plus, plus, he has no moral right or justification to do that, he is not my constituent…”
He told Joy News’ Sammy Darko he had to respond to the rating because his integrity is at stake, reiterating “he has not given me any job to grade me”.
He maintained that the MPs work cannot be judged solely on the floor of Parliament, but should be inclusive of contributions at the committee level, constituency among several other areas.
Mr Abayateye stated that, he just finished a tour throughout the country with the Public Accounts Committee, as a member, and wondered if “his (Steve Mallorey's) people were there, those who are called his correspondents, were they there, were they following us all over the country to see the type of work we are doing?”
MP for Offinso North, Augustine Collin Ntim, also challenged people to “go to my constituency and examine what I am doing there, come to the committee level and examine critically what we are doing there, so what are they measuring”.
He “totally rejected” the ‘F’ grade on him, and was confident his constituent would agree with him that he does not deserve that rating. He had D+ in last year’s rating, but he insisted they did not use the right criteria in assessing the MPs.
According to the MP for Ayawaso Central, Sheik I. C. Quaye, who scored ‘F’, the magazine is “completely out of touch with the duties of an MP in the present day Parliament of Ghana.”
He said he continues to enjoy massive popularity in his constituency because of his hard work.
“If they had checked my background, they would have known that I used to be [talk a lot] in Parliament, and I [still do].”
Sheik I. C. Quaye, who is not seeking re-election in 2012 election said he is now grooming young MPs in parliament “to be up and coming, this is what a good man should be doing”.
But for the highly-rated politician in Ghana, Prof. Mike Ocquaye who had an ‘A’, “some of these things {ratings} you accept them with humility and commitment”.
The Deputy Majority Leader in Parliament, Rashid Pelpuo, who was given a B+ told Joy News such ratings do not “reflect badly” on what he has done in parliament.
Asked if parliament has accepted the ratings of the magazine, he replied; “No. We cannot accept what we do not understand…Parliament is not a party to it. We don’t know how he developed those tools, we don’t know how he developed his indicators, we don’t know whether it has been tested and sound to be scientific enough for it to have enough validity, so we can’t say that we accept it.”
He said for Steve Mallory’s refusal to appear before the Privileges Committee, “he has flouted not just the Standing Orders of Parliament, but the laws of Ghana”, saying his action is “regrettable”, and counselled him to honour that invitation to explain his methodology to Parliament.
Kwaku Baako Jnr, Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper, and Kwesi Pratt, Managing Editor of the Insight, have all discounted the accuracy of the ratings.
Story by Isaac Essel/Ghana/Myjoyonline.com
http://politics.myjoyonline.com/pages/news/201110/74987.php
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