Alban Bagbin with the workshop participants
• A two-day communications strategy workshop to draft a communication document for the Office of the Speaker of Parliament has ended
• The Speaker has urged his office to work closely with the Public Affairs Department of Parliament to develop communications with a focused direction
• He also described his office as a lonely one
A two-day communication strategy workshop at the behest of the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, to craft a well-coordinated approach to the Speaker’s communication activities, has ended in Accra.
The Speaker, delivering the opening address at the Parliamentary Training Institute, charge both the Communications team at the Secretariat of his office, and the Public Affairs Department of Parliament to strategically work at laying to rest the negative impacts the institution faces as well as all the ones it will face in the future.
“For example, you all know about the events of the dawn of January 7, 2021, which led to my election as the Speaker of the Eighth Parliament of the Fourth Republic of Ghana. Those events have left a sour taste in the mouths of most Ghanaians. It has significantly contributed to how Parliament is perceived by most stakeholders.
“As communicators, you know that the memories of that day will live on for a long time, together with the negativities associated with it, if nothing is done about what happened,” he said.
Alban Bagbin also stated that since becoming Speaker of Parliament, he has noticed that being in high offices like that can come with a lot of loneliness, stressing that it is the reason he endeavors to continually engage with the public – the very people in whose interest he serves.
“… bear in mind that the Office of Speaker of Parliament can be a lonely and isolated one. The higher you climb in an organization, the lonely it becomes. At that point, how you relate to the people around – your stakeholders, both internal and external – can serve you well,” he explained.
The two-day event brought together journalists, communications experts, members of both the Speaker’s Secretariat and the Public Affairs Department of Parliament, and was facilitated by Gayheart Mensah, the Communications Consultant for the Speaker.