We’ve lived up to expectation despite challenges — Speaker

The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumani Kingsford Bagbin, has said that in spite of the challenges the current parliament was facing, it had been able to navigate through most issues successfully.

He said the uniqueness of the House, which had moved from majoritarian to a hung parliament, was facilitating its business.    

"The journey is not without challenges but we are making progress to consolidate our democracy," the Speaker added.

Mr Bagbin, who was addressing a public forum in Takoradi in the Western Region last Tuesday, added that parliament had a crucial role to play in promoting political democracy which included transparency, accountability and good governance, among others.

The event formed part of activities to commemorate the 30th anniversary celebration of the Fourth Republican Parliament on the theme: "Thirty years of parliamentary democracy under the fourth republic: The journey so far".

The forum was attended by chiefs, politicians, civil society groups and the general public.

Progress

Mr Bagbin mentioned the private member’s bill outlawing the death penalty and witches camps, including its stance on LGBTIQA+ as some of the achievements chalked up by the current parliament which he said were some of the dividends of democracy.

He acknowledged that although oversight responsibilities of parliament had been weak over the years, the situation had improved.

The Speaker also said that the performance of the nation’s parliament had led to it being adjudged as one of the best in Africa and the world at large.

Mr Bagbin, however, mentioned low representation of women, monetisation of politics, barring of chiefs from participating in active politics and the lack of understanding of parliamentary work as some of the challenges the House was grappling with.

He, therefore, stressed the need for Members of Parliament to reach out to the people to explain activities of the House to them so that " we can navigate these challenges”.

Mr Bagbin also entreated MPs to be self-disciplined and also work to win the confidence of their people.

Protection of Constitution

The Speaker further said that citizens had no other alternatives but to accept democracy and also protect the Constitution by asking questions on issues they did not understand rather than calling for coups d’etat.

He made reference to what was happening in some countries in the West Africa sub region and said coups did not augur well for any country and was happy that Ghanaians have since 1993, continued to embrace political democracy. 

Support

The Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah Bonsu,  in a speech read on his behalf by Joseph Cudjoe, NPP MP for Effia, urged citizens to continue to support parliament in the discharge of its duties.

For his part, the Deputy Minority Leader, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, said the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) would ensure that the government was put on its toes to deliver for the people.