The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has urged the media to deepen collaboration with Parliament to help reverse the worrying decline in public trust in the nation’s democratic and governance institutions.
“The 2024 Afrobarometer data on Ghana shows that 73 per cent of Ghanaians prefer democracy over any alternative. Yet, satisfaction with how democracy works has fallen to 49 per cent, down sharply from 78 per cent in 2017.
“The assessment of trust in governance institutions revealed that members of Parliament, ministries, departments, and agencies, and assembly members were the least trusted among the 14 institutions evaluated,” he said.
Media dialogue
Mr Bagbin said this at the opening ceremony of the maiden Public Financial Management (PFM) Media Dialogue held in Accra on Monday, November 24, 2025.
It was on the theme: “Parliament, The Press and The Purse: Building accountability through dialogue”.
The dialogue brought together business editors and senior financial and economic reporters from major media houses, alongside Members of Parliament and staff serving on the Finance and Economic Committees of Parliament.
It also included key governance stakeholders whose work connects public financial management to citizens’ understanding and participation.
Trust gap
Mr Bagbin maintained that a meaningful partnership between Parliament and the media was essential to closing the trust gap.
“Accountability becomes truly effective only when Parliament and the press interact openly, share insights, challenge one another constructively, and ultimately strengthen each other's work,” he emphasised.
MPs mandate
The Majority Chief Whip, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, lamented that Parliament had failed to fully enforce the accountability standards it set under the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921).
He urged MPs to rigorously analyse fiscal documents, interrogate figures and demand compliance from the Executive.
For his part, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP for Suame, John Darko, said robust public financial management was essential for equitable development and debt sustainability.
He called for stronger collaboration among Parliament, media and citizens to enhance scrutiny of budgets, improve transparency and make financial information more accessible.
The Clerk to Parliament, Ebenezer Ahumah Djietror, urged the media to prioritise issue-based reporting that promotes good governance, transparency and national development.
International partners
A Senior Public Sector Specialist at the World Bank, Smile Kwawukume, said the dialogue was a crucial tool for strengthening partnerships that advance accountability and transparency in the nation’s economic governance.
The Head of Trace and Economic Resilience at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), Juliet Ernst, underscored the need for Parliament and the media to work jointly to ensure fiscal discipline and rebuild public confidence.
