Ghana’s Parliament must improve on its Oversight and Private Member’s Legislation – Speaker Bagbin

Despite the fact that the performance and effectiveness of Ghana’s Parliament has been rated high in international circles, its rating in the area of oversight is “unsurprisingly low”. This is because Parliament and its Committees lack the needed support and assistance to perform their oversight functions. The Speaker of Parliament Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin made this observation on Tuesday April 27, 2021 when he inaugurated the 8th Parliamentary Service Board (PSB).

“One of the areas that our Parliament has not fared well is oversight and private Member’s legislation. Even though the performance and effectiveness of Ghana’s Parliament continue to be rated high internationally, its rating in the area of oversight is unsurprisingly low,” he stated in his opening address.

“I say it is unsurprising because Parliament and its Committees lack the needed support and assistance to perform their oversight functions. I had cause in March this year to call out the Ministry of Finance and the Secretary to the President for attempting to unilaterally place a ceiling on the budget appropriation for Parliament and the Judiciary.

“I must admit this unfortunate development has been the practice of almost all the Governments since the beginning of the 4^th Republic. This development has undoubtedly affected the capacity of Parliament to effectively and efficiently perform its oversight duties. I admit that there has been some modest improvement in the appropriation for Parliament by successive governments but it is still far inadequate to meet the optimal requirements of the House,” he stated.

In the area of Private Member’s Bills, the Speaker said the House has not helped itself because of the inadequate interpretation given to Article 108 of the Constitution by past Speakers of Parliament. He said the interpretation of what constitutes an “imposition of a charge on the Consolidated Fund or other public funds” or “the payment, issue or withdrawal from the Consolidated Fund or other public funds” sought to place a fetter on the capacity of Members to initiate and/or present Private Members’ Bills for the consideration of the House.

“Even if the Speakers at the time were to give Article 108 of the Constitution a more liberal and purposive interpretation, we did not have the technical personnel, the Legislative Draft persons within the Service to assist Members convert their thoughts into a legislative framework in the form of a Bill,” he noted.

He has therefore assured that 8^th Parliamentary Service Board which is chaired by him will work collectively and collaboratively to improve upon the work ethic of staff of the Service for maximum output.

The Parliamentary Service is provided for under Article 124 of the 1992 Constitution as part of the public service of Ghana. Section 3 of the Parliamentary Service Act, 1993 (Act 460) then established the Parliamentary Service to provide support services to Parliament and its committees or agencies of Parliament for the purposes of ensuring the full and effective exercise of the powers of Parliament. The Parliamentary Service is therefore the fulcrum around which Parliament revolves. It provides support services to enable Parliament and its Members fulfill their constitutional mandate and obligations to the citizens of Ghana.

Members of the Board include the Majority Leader and Leader of Government Business, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu; Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu; a former Majority Leader, Abraham Ossei Aidooh, a former Member of Parliament and Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Johnson Asiedu-Nketia; and the Clerck-to-Parliamenrt, Cyril Nsiah.

The Board will be supported by a former Director of Drafting at the Attorney General Department and the Ministry of Justice, Ms Estelle Appiah, who is now a consultant of international repute, and the two Deputy Speakers of Parliament.

“These are men and woman of varied and extensive experience in their respective fields of endeavour and I have no doubt that they will place their experiences at the service of this Board to enrich policies and decisions of the Board and to enable us to push through the implementation of the strategic objectives of Parliament and the Parliamentary Service,” Speaker Bagbin noted.

By Jeorge Wilson Kingson || ghananewsonline.com.gh