Speaker Bagbin and Mohammed Ahmed Al Homid
SPEAKER OF Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has called on the leadership of Parliament to have a strong interest in fostering a ‘give and take’ behaviour in the House.
He stated that the willingness to develop mutual concessions and compromises by opposing parties lay at the heart of effective collaboration and cooperation, intimating that this will defuse political tension in Parliament.
Mr. Bagbin made the remarks when the Qatari Ambassador to Ghana, Mohammed Ahmed Al Homid called on him in Parliament House in Accra to understand the dynamics at play in Parliament in view of its current composition.
According to the Speaker, the winner-takes-all syndrome should give way to “give and take”, pointing out that in places where such behaviour becomes the norm, the benefits multiply quickly.
“There is the need for all of us, myself inclusive, to break this jinx, so that Ghana’s Parliament can return to the days of consultation, dialogue and consensus building,” he noted, and stressed that, “the culture of give and take” must be encouraged since that is the only way the country can mitigate the current political tensions.
Speaker Bagbin also said the quality of a country’s human resource and the strength of its institutions are important ingredients to promote the country’s democracy, which must improve the quality of lives and meet the aspirations of its citizens.
He indicated that, Parliament has a duty to add value to any intervention targeted at improving the lot of Ghanaians.
He praised the leaders of Qatar for their continuous investment in their people and building their system of governance and administration, regardless of the relationship with western countries.
The Speaker expressed concern about under-representation of women in Parliament, saying, “Our countries cannot be fully developed, if focus and priority is only given to men, whilst women are still largely without similar opportunities to improve upon themselves.”
He pointed out that women are only 40 out of the 275 lawmakers in Ghana’s Parliament, and said this represented 14.5%, which is inadequate.
He called for a stronger relationship between Ghana and Qatar to create more employment opportunities for the citizens of both countries, whilst supporting Ghana to strengthen the caliber of her human resources, through partnership in education and other capacity building interventions.
Qatari Ambassador Mohammed Ahmed Al Homid said Ghana and Qatar share common values when it comes to democracy, and pointed to the role of the legislature in the governance architecture of the two countries.
Ambassador Al Homid said the two countries could also collaborate in the areas of energy, trade and commerce for mutual development and benefit.
BY Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House