Speaker elected President of CPA - Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu becomes Vice Chair

The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has been elected as the new President of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association International (CPA).

He was unanimously elected at the just ended 65th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC) hosted by Canada in Halifax.

Until his election as the President, Mr Bagbin was the Vice-President of the CPA, an organisation of over 180 Members of Parliaments of the Commonwealth of Nations.

Majority leader

The conference also elected the Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, as the Vice-Chairman of the CPA.

By this election, Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu holds the second most important position of the Executive Committee and the Coordinating Committee of the association.

He thus becomes the Deputy Spokesperson of the CPA and will assist the Chairman of the association, Ian Liddell-Grainger, who is also MP of the House of Commons, UK, in providing leadership for the running of the Executive Committee.

Ghana to host 66th CPC

Mr Bagin, as President of the CPA, gives Ghana the opportunity to host the 66th Conference of the CPA in Accra from September 30 to October 7, 2023.

As the new head, he would preside over the next CPC in Ghana while also serving as the Chair of the Elections Committee of the association.

He is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Association, among other roles and duties constitutionally bestowed on him.

Issues

Major issues that were discussed at the annual conference included amendments to the constitution of the association to make parliaments in the Commonwealth more relevant, accessible, technologically savvy, gender sensitive, balanced, and inclusive of the youth, and the marginalised, especially persons with disabilities.

Representation

The Parliament of Ghana was represented at the conference by a team led by the Speaker.

They included Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu; the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu; the Deputy Minority Whip, Ahmed Ibrahim; the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Thomas Mbomba: the Deputy Majority Whip, Lydia Seyram Alhassan: the Second Deputy Minority Whip, Comfort Cudjoe-Ghansah Doyoe, and the MP for Akuapem North, Nana Ama Dokua Asiamah-Adjei.

The others were the Clerk to Parliament, Cyril Kwabena Nsiah, and some staff of Parliament.