The Parliament of Ghana has held an orientation seminar for parliamentary correspondents on the revised standing orders following a similar exercise organised for Members of Parliament (MPs) a forth night ago. The 2-day interactive workshop which took place in Ada under the auspices of the Speaker, Rt Hon Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin took journalists through an elaborate session explaining each provision in the enhance rules of procedure which has become necessary due to current trends in parliamentary jurisprudence within the comity of nations that Ghana belongs to and in line with Ghana’s commitment to open governance and open parliament.
Clerk to Parliament, Mr. Cyril Kwabena Oteng Nsiah noted that, “contemporary challenges including demands for higher levels of transparency in the democratic process; inadequacy of manual work procedures in the effective discharge of the mandate of the legislature; and the COVID-19 pandemic revealed some gaps in the Orders of House” placed a requirement on the Parliament of Ghana to adopt innovative techniques and strategies in order that it can deliver effectively on its mandate.
He also noted that the hung nature of the Eighth Parliament, a first of its kind in the Fourth Republic, presented a number of novel situations and challenges which were not contemplated by the drafters of the old standing orders. The revised standing orders however introduces practices and procedures including conducting a roll call of MPs at the beginning of each sitting day, recital of the national pledge, and the conduct of parliamentary business through virtual platforms among others.
A key development in the revised standing orders is the expansion of the committee system from 31 to 44 select and standing committees. One of such is the Budget Committee which will among other things consider and report to the House on the medium-term expenditure framework and the broad medium-term policy target; the Appropriation Bill laid before Parliament; expenditure in advance of appropriation; and impact of tax waivers on the economy. The Budget statement which is presented every year by the Minister of Finance will be done as a statement to the House and MPs will make comments after the presentation. The Budget statement which will be referred to as a ‘vote on account and expenditure in advance of appropriation’ effective this year will require a decision of the House only during the consideration of estimates for the Ministries, Departments and Agencies; and when the Appropriation Bill is being passed.
Mr. Nsiah acknowledged the critical role of the media in the reportage of parliamentary proceedings which cannot be overemphasized. He urged the parliamentary press corps to use the workshop as a means to improve their knowledge of the House rules in order to effectively discharge their mandate to the Ghanaian populace.
The Speaker of Parliament who joined the forum throughout the day via the Zoom video conference system urged reporters to take full advantage of the programme to ask questions. He underscored the important role of Parliament in advancing democracy where decisions taken affect every citizen of Ghana. Therefore, the procedure of Parliament must not be shrouded in mystery if citizens are to be informed about those decisions.
The new standing orders of Parliament was adopted by a resolution on Thursday, 21st December, 2023 and took effect on 2nd January, 2024. There are 293 orders in the rules of procedure with 10 schedules which hitherto where known as appendices in the erstwhile standing orders.