Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has open a three day workshop for members of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA UK) in Accra with a call on Ghanaian politicians to take advantage of the current composition of the 8th Parliament to improve on the democratic gains of the country.
According him, whilst a hung parliament by itself is not bad, the challenges associated with it can be daunting and can lead to complexities, hence the imperative need to consult, dialogue, co-operate, compromise, collaborate and achieve consensus.
“I still maintain that the composition of Ghana’s current parliament as a hung one presents the Legislature with the unique opportunity to right some errors in the past” he stated.
Rt Hon Bagbin indicated that he is leading a process that will ensure that the Legislature is strengthened to play its role as an equal partner to the other arms of government, for the delivery of an open, transparent and accountable governance to the citizenry.
on his part, Minister of National Security, Mr. Kan Dapaah acknoledged the importance of checks and balances as attributes of true democracy noting that the current composition of the 8th Parliament present an effective way for the Legislature to properly check the Executive for the development of the country.
He urged both sides of the political divide to work together in the best interest of the nation and avoid physical confrontations.
Clerk to Parliament, Cyril Kwabena Oteng Nsiah in a welcome message urged the Commonwealth to pay attention to developing and implementing mechanism that would boost trade, enhance security and improve gender relations.
He expressed optimism that deliberations on the topics discussed during the workshop will result in a cross fertilisation of ideas for the growth of respective parliaments and renew the commitment to improve the lot of nations and the world at large.
The CPA workshop which is being held under the theme “Trade and Security: Effective Parliaments in Times of Complexities” has an objective to help develop a greater understanding of the operations of Parliamentary Trade, Security and Gender Committees in the Commonwealth.
