The Parliamentary Press Corps: The Broken Piece in the Celebration of 30 Years of Ghana’s Parliamentary Democracy

The year 2023 marks 30 years of uninterrupted Parliamentary Democracy in Ghana since the promulgation of the 1992 Constitution which ushered in the Fourth Republic in January 1993.

The Parliament of Ghana has been celebrating this feat with pomp and pageantry with a plethora of activities planned to stretch the whole year in commemoration of the milestone. This is being done under the auspices of the Speaker of the Eighth Parliament, the Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin.

The Celebration of Parliamentary Democracy is in effect the celebration of Democracy and its principles throughout the years of civilian rule after the unholy romanticizing of the unproductive military interventions in the past.

According to a press release issued by Mr. Ebenezer Ahumah Djitror, Director and Coordinator of the 30^th Anniversary Celebrations Committee, the commemoration themed: “Thirty Years of Parliamentary Democracy under the Fourth Republic: The Journey thus Far”, will provide an opportunity for Parliament and Ghanaians to reflect on Parliament’s achievements, acknowledge challenges and recommit to the principles of democracy, justice and equality that have guided the nation over the years.

This article is meant to highlight the unfortunate omission of the media, and for that matter, the Parliamentary Press Corps (PPC) from the activities mapped out for the celebration and the failure of the organizers to acknowledge the PPC as an important stakeholder that has contributed immensely to the stability of the country’s democracy. We cannot belabor the point that journalists played an integral role in shaping the destiny of the country’s Parliamentary Democracy which milestone is being celebrated today.

I contend that this omission is an unfortunate error that must not be left unattended because it cuts a slur on the democratic credentials we tout so proudly to other nations in Africa and the rest of the world who look up to us.

It is a well-known fact that democracy revolves around Parliament and the media is an important part of that process because media is the wheel that makes democracy revolve. So, celebrating Democracy without acknowledging the media and its active involvement is like trying to chew bones with a broken tooth.

Therefore, for the Parliament of Ghana to celebrate 30 years of uninterrupted Parliamentary Democracy without the active involvement of the media – i.e. the Parliamentary Press Corps (PPC), is like chewing bones with a bad tooth. No matter how long one chews, the evidence will be there for all to see.

It can be claimed that free and independent media is essential to a democracy. The role of the Parliamentary Press Corps in informing citizens, holding power accountable, promoting political participation, and facilitating public discourse is essential for the functioning of the democratic system.

By providing diverse perspectives, empowering citizens, and ensuring transparency, the PPC has contributed to the development and progress of the Parliamentary Democracy being celebrated today.

It is regrettable therefore that Ghana which is considered the bastion of Parliamentary democracy in Africa, will be observing a yearlong celebration of 30 years of Parliamentary democracy in the country without the active involvement of the Parliamentary Press Corps (PPC) which has been covering its activities for all these years.

The organizing Committee of the celebration led by the Member of Parliament for Abwakwa South, Samuel Atta Akyea, drew an elaborate plan for the celebration spanning a whole year moving the Parliamentary train across the length and breadth of the country but conveniently leaving the Parliamentary Press Corps out of its activities across the country just as the pieces of furniture in the Parliamentary Chamber.

This behavior is not peculiar to the Parliament because here in Ghana the media is always treated as an afterthought. Almost as if it does not exist until there is a pressing need that requires its attention. So, it is not surprising to see the Parliamentary Press Corps being left out the way it has been done in this classical case. What is however shocking is that it is happening at a time when the Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin is serving as the Speaker of the 8^th Parliament of Ghana.

The former Member of Parliament for Nadowli-Kaleo constituency who rose through the ranks in the leadership of Parliament, holding prominent positions such as Minority and Majority Leader, and Deputy Speaker among others before his eventual election as the Speaker, is a very well-known advocate for the media and capacity building efforts of the Parliamentary Press Corps.

In his former life as the Minority Leader, Mr. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, single-handedly, out of his pocket, sponsored a seven-member delegation of the leadership of the Parliamentary Press Corps for a trip to Tanzania to familiarize themselves with Parliamentary best practices there, and more importantly, to learn about the relationship that should exist between the Parliament as an institution, and its Press Corps; and the support systems that should be provided to facilitate the work of the media in the delivery of its democratic duty to the state.

I want to believe Mr. Bagbin did it at the time because he believed that the Press Corps deserved better and therefore must be exposed to best-known practices. How then do we explain this retrogressive behavior of relegating the Parliamentary Press Corps to the sidelines of the celebration of this important milestone, perpetrated under his watch when he is now in a better position as the head of the institution? Something is not adding up in my opinion.

It must be admitted that there has been some improvement in the working environment for the media in the coverage of Parliamentary proceedings since Mr. Bagbin assumed the reigns of Speakership. As soon as he took office, he quickly commissioned for use, a state-of-the-art air-conditioned media center furnished with office workstations, television sets, computers, and a fridge, among others for journalists reporting from parliament. Hitherto, the office renovated under Speaker Oquaye had been under lock and key for several years without any meaningful explanation.

However, capacity building for the Parliamentary Press Corps has been at an all-time low. Very little effort is put in to support the honing of the skills of this important breed of journalist who are so fundamental to the success and sustainability of the Parliamentary democracy which the country is often touted for by its peers in the sub-region.

Members of the Corps are often left out of very important assignments and conferences outside of the country, depriving them of international conference exposure, best-known Parliamentary practices elsewhere, and its attendant benefits. The Parliamentary Press Corps has been relegated to doing the local chores in the Parliament House. And even with that, it has been restricted to just Accra as the local champions.

These activities for the celebration are ongoing in the regions across the country without a single member of the Parliamentary Press Corps being taken along to mark their involvement in the celebration as a show of appreciation for their work and also to wire reports back to the larger group in Accra for publications. No other media groupings know the institution of Parliament better than the PPC. An arrangement could have been made to put them on the regional trips, even if it is on a rotational basis because of the numbers.

In a report filed by the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in November 2003, at the induction into office of a Seven-member Executive of the Parliamentary Press Corps, the then Speaker Peter Ala Adjetey, called for cooperation and good faith between Parliament and members of the Parliamentary Press Corps to ensure that the interest of the public is served.

He said, there should be no “we and they” attitude in the way the members of the press and the members of parliament perceive each other since both parties are involved in the same business of rendering services to the public.

However, the posturing of the Parliament and the celebration organizers towards the Press Corps smacks of bad faith, mistrust, and lack of appreciation of their contribution to the democratic process. And this, if not checked, may have consequences on the quality of service delivery from members of the Corps to the parliamentary institution going forward.

It beats one’s imagination how this omission of the Parliamentary Press Corps from the celebration could escaped the attention of the entire institution of Parliament and the organizing committee for all this while if not deliberate. It leads one to start questioning the usefulness of the recently expanded mandate of the Public Affairs Directorate of the Parliament which now includes 3 new separate departments namely Public Engagements; Media relations; and Broadcasting.

Having pointed out these shortcomings from the institutional point of view, we cannot gloss over the fact that the Leadership of the Parliamentary Press Corps cannot escape blame for the aforementioned error because they owe it a responsibility to their members and the public to make a case for the involvement of the group in the celebration of Parliamentary Democracy in the country. A petition to the organizing committee or any appropriate authority involved in the process to draw their attention to the anomaly would have been in order.

Before I end, let me indicate that, while we are still at it, there is still some time left to make amends. The organizing committee could reach out to the Executives of the Press Corps or vice versa for inputs into the remainder of the activities mapped for the celebration.

There could also be a workshop or academic lecture arranged with the involvement of the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA), the Private Newspapers and Online News Publishers Association of Ghana (PRINPAG), the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA), and the National Media Commission (NMC), for presentation of papers on the contributions of the media and the Parliamentary Press Corps (PPC) to the sustainability of democracy and Parliamentary Democracy in Ghana for the next three decades. A suggested theme could be “30 Years of Parliamentary Democracy – The Role of the Media (Parliamentary Press Corps)”.

We wait for action.

Long Live Parliament

Long Live the PPC

Long Live Parliamentary Democracy

By Clement Akoloh

Contact: [email protected]

The writer, Clement Akoloh, is a Senior Member of the Parliamentary Press Corps (PPC). He holds a B.A. in Political Science and an M.A. in Development Communication. He is the Managing Editor of the parliamentary-oriented news portal, www.parliamentnews360.com, and the Communications Officer for the Parliamentary Network Africa (PNAfrica).