Member of Parliament (MP) for the Korle-Klottey constituency, Dr. Zanetor Rawlings, has called for funeral attendances to be included in the official duties of all Ghanaian legislators.

She said it is very important that lawmakers find time to attend the funerals of their constituents since it is a culture.

According to her, if funeral attendances is what will make the people happy, then MPs must begin to make themselves available.

This comes after Dr. Zenator Rawlings reportedly revealed that she has attended more funerals in her two years as an MP than she did previously.

The legislator is now advocating for funeral attendance to be made an official duty of her colleague Parliamentarians.

“… There is the cultural aspect. Funerals are so important. If you underestimate the value of funerals to the community, you might actually find yourself wanting,” she is quoted as saying.

“I almost feel like though in talking about the role of an MP, we really need to add that officially. It is something you can’t run away from.”

“I think I have attended more funerals now than I have in my entire life which is an interesting experience because it is a whole cultural experience to actually get involved in the funerals and everything else. But by and large one wish one could do more.”

She added that whiles the job of an MP is mainly to make laws and oversee development, all legislators also have an oversight role to play in their societies.

This, she said, includes helping out community members with some infrastructure, as well as programmes.

“I think sometimes this hybrid system compromises our ability to take on to take on that role as an oversight over the executive. But with the culture of our cultural setting, the MP also ends up being an agent of development.

“Even though you have the local government you have the assemblies in you various districts and the various constituencies, you find out that the MP still have to do quite a lot to help with members of the community with some of the infrastructure programs and so on and so forth,” she added.