Parliament must be digitized – Clerk

The Clerk of the Parliament of Ghana, Mr. Emmanuel Anyimadu, has said that for the legislature to fully realized its dream of making it more accessible and visible to the electorate, it is important to build a stronger internal systems backed with state of the art ICT infrastructure and research capabilities.

He is of the view that the law making body despite having evolved and improved in the utilization of ICT and research resources, still have a lot of work to do to facilitate access to Members of Parliament and staff to a wide range of information and research products and services which will propel it to the next level of its technological development.

“As an institution, we must start thinking of budgeting for ICT infrastructure and training programs in that area”, he noted.

Mr. Anyimadu made this observation when addressing participants during the one week celebration of Inter-Departmental Research and Information Group (IDRIG) of the Parliament of Ghana in Accra on Tuesday, July 17, 2018.

The event was dubbed “25 years of Parliamentary Democracy in Ghana: the Role of Research and Information”.

Stressing on the benefits of a digital Parliament, he urged the team that has been tasked to spearhead the ICT drive to work together with the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) “to bring into full operation all underutilized past and present products and services to aid the work processes of our Parliament and ultimately help achieve a digital Parliament”.

The Parliamentary Service, he added, will also rely on the commitment and collaboration of Speakership, Leadership and MPs to achieve a digital Parliament where MPs continuously improve their knowledge and understanding of research and information management, and conduct Parliament business with utmost ease.

It will also afford the MPs and staff of Parliament to deeply appreciate research and information tools, and utilize same in the execution of their mandate.

“As information departments of our Parliament, it is important to note that information gathering, processing, management and sharing among departments is key to any vibrant and forward looking Parliament. It is therefore pertinent that these departments collaborate in the discharge of their respective functions”, he stressed.

IDRIG must provide accurate records

The Speaker, Prof. Aaron Michael Oquaye, launching the program charged IDRIG to provide accurate records for the Parliament of Ghana since they are responsible to managing information and research.

He said research and information was crucial to the work of MPs and staff of Parliament as it exposed them to the work of the legislature.

Prof. Oquaye further told the gathering that Parliament was very critical to the development of the country’s democracy since it serves as the nerve center of the nation where representatives of the people from all over the country meet.