Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin, Speaker of Parliament of the 8th Parliament under the Fourth Republic
• Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin has said his outfit is opened to engage with CSOs
• He believes CSOs help shape democracies
• Mr Bagbin noted that technology has made Parliaments compete for the citizen’s attention
Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin has emphasized the need for parliament to engage Civil Society Organizations for the deepening of the country’s democracy.
According to him, the legislature needs to partner with these organisations to ensure the growth of democracy.
He made this statement during CDD-Ghana’s conference on the topic
‘Strengthening PMOs in West Africa and Ghana to Enhance Parliamentary Openness, Inclusive Policies, Transparency and Responsiveness’.
“We must, together as a sub-region, deal with the emerging issues that confront us because they can have very serious consequences for the people within the sub-region. As legislators, we need to partner CSOs and other forward-looking organizations to assist with educating and sensitizing our citizens on the role they play to ensure the growth of democracy.
“I am committed to doing just that as one of the key pillars of the Corporate Strategic Plan of Ghana’s Parliament,” he said.
He also expressed that technology and the availability of information makes parliament compete for citizen’s attention.
“In our current context, however, the advent of technology and the increasing diversity and availability of information to citizens are pushing Parliaments to compete for the citizen’s attention as never before.
Meanwhile, the Director of Research at CDD-Ghana, Dr Edem Selormey, also raised concerns about the need for parliament to trust the work of civil societies.
“Often, issues of mistrust of civil society, absence of established protocols of engagement stand in the way of CSOs especially PMOs to continuously engage and contribute positively to improve the democratic standing of parliament”, Dr Selormey stated.