Day: March 10, 2024

Parliament at the weekend held a two-day capacity building workshop on the new Standing Orders for the Parliamentary Press Corps at the Aqua Safari Resort of Ada in the Greater Accra Region.

Standing Orders are the written rules, which regulate the proceedings of Parliament.

The new Standing Orders, passed by the House on December 21, 2023, and came into effect on January 2, 2024, address the evolving needs of Ghana’s dynamic and hybrid parliamentary democracy.

Mr Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, the Speaker of Parliament, in a virtual message to the workshop, lauded the role of the media in enhancing Ghana’s democracy.

‘For Members of Parliament, together with the parliamentary community, the press is a critical partner in transacting Parliamentary Business, which is the business of the people,’ the Speaker said.

‘There is a yawning gap between the representatives and the people, and that gap can only be linked and closed by a very important group of people or a very important institution referred to as t
he media, both traditional and new media.’

A similar workshop had already been organised for Members of Parliament, Speaker Bagbin said, and that the final group to be taken through the new Standing Orders would be civil society.

Mr Cyril Kwabena Oteng Nsiah, The Clerk to Parliament, said Parliaments of the Fourth Republic had, in consonance with the provisions of Article 110 of the 1992 Constitution, regulated procedures of the House by Standing Orders, which prescribe the rules and practices for the conduct of parliamentary business.

After 23 years of adherence to the provisions of the previous Standing Orders of the House, with minimal amendments, it was prudent that Parliament refines its processes and procedures in accordance with emerging legislative trends across the Commonwealth.

He said 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 Co
vid-19 pandemic revealed some gaps in the Orders of House.

These require that the House adapts innovative techniques and strategies in order to deliver on the mandate of Parliament.

Moreover, the hung nature of the Eighth Parliament, which was the first of its kind since the inception of the Fourth Republic, presented a number of novel situations and challenges that were not within the contemplation of the drafters of previous Orders of the House.

Mr Nsiah said the revised Orders, adopted by a Resolution of the House on Thursday, 21st December, 2023, and took effect on 2nd January, 2024, introduced practices and procedures, including the recital of the National Pledge, the conduct of Parliamentary Business through virtual platforms, and clearly delineates the hierarchy of the Leadership of Parliament.

Mr Stephen Odoi-Larbi, the Vice Dean of the Parliamentary Press Corps, on behalf of the Dean, expressed gratitude to the Speaker and Parliament for organising the workshop for the members of the Press Corps.

‘As one of the custodians of our democracy, the media’s role in the seamless functioning of the legislative arm of government cannot be overemphasised,’ he said.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Former President John Dramani Mahama has assured that farmers will be given guaranteed prices for cereals and other legumes if he is voted into power.

He said, ‘We will give minimum guaranteed prices to farmers to keep the cost of food stable in the country by allowing the private sector to join the National Buffer stock in their operation to mop up excess food in the system, even if the prices of cereals are low.’

He said this would help the Buffer stock to store and release the food when prices were high to keep enough food in the country and at the same time give farmers good price for their produce.

The former President was speaking at a farmers’ forum held at Tumu as part of the ‘Build the Ghana We Want tour’ to the Sissala area.

He said, ‘I know some of you have started the production of sesame, which is a high-value crop. Such farmers will be supported with small loans so that you can expand and export.’

Former President Mahama also outlined key initiatives to support the agricultural sector and e
xpressed the commitment to providing farm input and encouraged the formation of cooperatives among the farmers to make it easier for them to get the needed support.

He assured farmers that the farmers’ service centre he launched in Gwollu in 2016 would be brought back in all districts of the country to create a one-stop shop for the farmers to access inputs from fertilizer, seeds, machinery including a micro -credit scheme to farmers to borrow.

‘I will do something about the roads and the bridge especially from Bawiesebelle to Duu and the other areas to ensure that you cart your food products to market centres safely,’ he assured.

He added that with the poor implementation of the current government’s s One Village One Dam (1V1D) policy, which was poorly conceptualised, the government of NDC would build real dams that could contain water and sustain agriculture activities for both plants and animals.

Answering a question about the defunct cotton industry, he said if voted, they would revamp the cotton ginn
ery and give input to farmers for government to buy from them.

‘We have a ginnery here in Tumu, Bolgatanga and Tamale and I will bring back cotton production,’ he said.

The former president also addressed challenges in the education sector, promising to scrap the licensure exams and incorporate teacher trainee licensing into their final-year exams at the Colleges.

On agri business, Mr Mahama acknowledged and lauded the efforts of Kedan, a maize processing factory in Tumu, and expressed his commitment to support agribusiness of Kedan and others in line with his 24-hour economy promise.

Mr Mohammed Bataglia, the NDC Parliamentary candidate for the Sissala East, said John Mahama was a man of integrity and a man of his words who would not use deception to win power.

Mr Razak Mahama Navri, the Sissala East constituency chairman of the NDC called for unity and promised to work hard to snatch the Parliamentary seat from the ruling NPP.

Source: Ghana News Agency