Speaker Alban S.K. Bagbin
Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has condemned what he described as growing external pressure on African countries to alter their laws and cultural values as a condition for receiving development assistance and international cooperation.
Delivering the keynote address at the opening of the Fourth African Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Family, Sovereignty and Values at the Parliament House in Accra, Mr. Bagbin said the practice of tying aid, trade agreements and bilateral partnerships to the adoption of foreign legal and cultural paradigms undermines the sovereignty of African states.
He stressed that sovereignty must be understood as the inherent right of a people to determine their own social, economic and moral destiny without external coercion or ideological conditionalities.
“In recent times, we have witnessed a troubling narrative where development assistance, trade agreements, natural resource agreements and bilateral cooperation have been made contingent upon the adoption of legal and cultural paradigms alien to our socio-cultural fabric,” he stated.
Mr. Bagbin argued that conditioning aid on changes to domestic laws violates the principle of sovereign equality enshrined in the United Nations Charter.
“We do not seek to dictate the internal legal frameworks of other continents, and we expect, in return, the same respect for our sovereignty,” he said.
The Speaker maintained that African constitutions empower legislatures to preserve and promote indigenous cultural values while balancing them with modern development and fundamental human freedoms.
Citing Article 39 of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution, he said Parliament has a constitutional mandate to serve as a bridge between traditional heritage and modern statutory law, particularly on issues relating to the family and social values.
“Our laws must look like the people they are written to protect. A law that does not resonate with the spirit, history and moral conscience of the citizenry is a dead law,” he emphasised.
Mr. Bagbin further called on African legislators to remain accountable to the mandates of their electorates and ensure that national laws reflect the values and aspirations of their people.
Addressing delegates from across the continent, he urged African nations to work together to defend legislative sovereignty and resist “unfair external pressures.”
He noted that no African country could effectively safeguard its sovereignty in isolation and called for stronger collaboration through regional parliamentary bodies, including the Pan-African Parliament, the ECOWAS Parliament, the East African Legislative Assembly and the SADC Parliamentary Forum.
The Speaker also advocated the adoption of an African Family Values Charter to establish a common continental framework for protecting family structures and cultural values.
According to him, such a charter would help harmonise family protection laws across the continent, strengthen Africa’s collective voice and reinforce national sovereignty through an indigenous framework developed by Africans for Africans.
Mr. Bagbin said Africa’s quest for development should not come at the expense of its cultural identity, stressing that the continent could modernise and compete globally while remaining true to its traditions and values.
He urged participants to translate the resolutions of the conference into concrete legislation, budgetary commitments and effective oversight mechanisms aimed at protecting families, preserving cultural heritage and strengthening national sovereignty across Africa.
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House