Mr. Speaker, Ghana continues to exhibit strong leadership in democratic governance, which makes us the envy of many nations. As noted earlier, we have just come out of an historic election which witnessed progressive reforms including the use of a biometric voters register and biometric verification for voting which has been acclaimed by both domestic and international observers as free, fair and transparent. 

Government will continue to support the Electoral Commission by providing it with the needed resources to carry out its programmes and reforms.

The independence of the judiciary would be upheld and we would work to improve conditions of work of the judiciary.  We will work with the Judicial Council to continue the process of providing new and more modern court rooms and provide the instruments and equipment to facilitate the work of the judges.

Mr. Speaker, Government will continue to partner with community-based organisations and civil society especially in the areas of public service reform and delivery.

In pursuing this objective, the Government of Ghana will develop mechanisms for promoting citizen-based monitoring and evaluation of public policies and programs, as well as providing feedback and suggestions on ways of improving the targeting of social and economic development programmes. Civil society will continue to have limitless space to participate in our governance system. It is healthy and allows growth of democratic governance.

Mr. Speaker, We will guarantee freedom of worship as enshrined in our constitution and continue to promote peaceful coexistence of all religions in our country. It is expected that the umbrella religious organizations will in turn implement self-regulation to curb the excesses of some of their members who give the clergy a bad name.

Mr. Speaker, the role of traditional institutions, will be strengthened to promote accountable governance.  Working with the National House of Chiefs, the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Traditional Affairs has been re-aligned to provide more vigorous interface between chieftaincy and tradition. We will progressively improve the allowances given to Paramount chiefs and Queenmothers to facilitate the execution of their traditional duties.

Mr. Speaker, a strong parliament is a strong democracy. Strengthening Parliament is also a crucial element in managing a successful transition to middle-income status.  This includes ensuring that Parliament has the capacity to play its oversight role effectively.

Mr. Speaker, the ‘Job 600’ project, which will ensure that Members of Parliament can operate from descent offices, is almost complete. MPs can expect to be furnished with laptops with full Internet connectivity to facilitate communication between their offices and constituents as promised in the NDC manifesto.

In my first term, we will seek to strengthen Parliament by:

  • Establishing the Democracy Fund proposed by the Constitution Review Commission (CRC) to provide sustainable funding for Parliament, Independent Governance Institutions and other pro-democracy governance bodies.
  • Strengthening the Committees of Parliament by ensuring that the Chairpersons and Ranking Members of Parliament are accorded recognition consistent with their status and responsibilities as recommended by the CRC.
  • Commence a feasibility study for the construction of a new Parliamentary Chamber block on the premises of the state house.
  • We will also explore appropriate housing for MPs in order to guarantee their safety and security.

By: Kasapafmonline.com/Ghana