Parliament needs more funds to effectively monitor the executive arm of government - Bagbin

Ghana's Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has linked Parliament's challenges in effectively overseeing the Executive to an unequal distribution of resources.

He argues that the government's allocation of 600 million Cedis is insufficient for empowering the legislature to properly scrutinize the executive branch, which consistently receives billions of Cedis in allocations citinewsroom.com reports.

Bagbin highlighted this during a Press Soiree in Ho, Volta Region, as part of commemorating 30 years of uninterrupted parliamentary democracy in Ghana, He emphasized the need for reforms to strengthen parliamentary governance in the country.

He said, “If the Presidency in an annual budget can take, for example, 3 billion cedis and the whole arm that is to hold the president to account is given about 600 million cedis, how can that weak body hold that mighty executive to account, how is it going to happen?”

The Speaker highlighted how overseeing the executive becomes even more challenging due to the government's insufficient support for the media.

He stressed the imperative role of the media in monitoring all branches of government and expressed regret that, in Ghana, the media is frequently seen merely as a business entity, lacking adequate attention to its working conditions and mechanisms for accountability.

“If the media which is supposed to hold the three of us accountable is not even catered for, the media is seen in Ghana as a private enterprise and nobody cares whether there are conditions of service or not,” the speaker added.

RAD/NOQ