Ghana is playing host to the Delocalized Committee Meeting of the ECOWAS Parliament to deliberate on matters of Telecommunications and Information Communication Technology in the West African Sub-region.
“High on the agenda is the quest to find a common ground to develop some level of convergence in terms of the institutions across the various countries both in terms of regulations and service charges,” said Afenyo Markin, Chairman of Ghana’s delegation to the ECOWAS Parliament.
The meeting which is scheduled to last for five days, will start from Monday, July 26 to Friday, July 30, 2021 where delegations from the 15 member countries would be hosted at Winneba in the central region.
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Though the ECOWAS Parliament sits in Abuja, Nigeria, countries in the sub-region are encouraged to host localized meetings of the various committees in order to reach out to the people in the communities.
This particular meeting being hosted by Ghana under the theme: Telecommunication and Information Technology and its Impacts on Security and Human Rights in the sub-region, is a joint meeting by three committees of the sub-regional Parliament.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who also doubles as the Chairman of the ECOWAS Heads of State and the Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament, Rt. Hon. Speaker Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, will join the Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Mohammed Tunis to officially open the meeting.
Briefing the Parliamentary Press Corps on the purpose of the meeting in Parliament on Friday, July 23, 2021, the spokesperson for the meeting in Ghana, Mahama Ayariga intimated that, due to the major role telecommunication and information technology is indeed playing in the lives of the people in the sub-region, the committees have come together to invite experts to advice its members of these developments.
“But more importantly, we meet so that we see how we can develop some level of convergence in terms of the institutions across the various countries both in terms of regulations service charges among others.
“As you all know, there has been an explosion in terms of the reach of telecommunication and an expansion of infrastructure across the sub-region. Almost every nook and cranny of the sub-region is mostly networked now and almost every citizen now possesses a cell phone. And we do many things using telecommunication infrastructure and new information technology platforms.
“The financial sector, if you just take as an example mobile money platform and how it has revolutionized the financial sector within such a very short period of time amazes all of us. But that is how far we have come as a sub-region.
“If you also see the extent to which politically, social media has become a major platform for political expression by citizens. It has become a major organizing tool for political actors and social organization across the sub-region. And we also know the extent to which we are all using all forms of technology in our elections, both in voter registration, in campaign and in election itself.”
Source: Clement Akoloh || parliamentnews360.com