Parliamentary Centre to school MPs on purse control

Accra, June 10, GNA - Mr Isaac Asiamah, New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Atwima/Mponua, on Friday called on the leadership of the House to invite the Canadian Parliamentary Centre to school parliamentarians on the criteria for their evaluation.

Ghana came last in a survey recently conducted by the Canadian Parliamentary Centre when pitched against six other Parliaments in Africa on the key issue of financial oversight by the executive.

In his contribution during the business statement discussions, Mr Asiamah said it was worrying for Ghana that took pride among African democracies to have performed poorly in a survey conducted by the Canadian Parliamentary Centre.

He said parliament approved funds for all government institutions and must ensure value for money.

Mr Asiamah explained that discussions at the meeting would serve as basis for performing well in the future.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Mr Asiamah diagnosed that the cause of the problem came from the legal framework of Ghana's Parliament.

He said Parliament could not add cost to any financial bill that comes before it adding that under the current arrangement parliamentary budget was normally approved by the government.

He said for example that the Public Account Committee had no prosecutorial powers but could only make recommendations in their reports.

Asked why Parliament did not doubt and contest the outcome of the survey as it did for Africa Watch Magazine, Mr Asaimah said the methodologies were well set out and could be scientifically proved.

Mr Cletus Avoka, Majority Leader, who the Speaker directed the matter to, said leadership would notify the Parliamentary Centre and arrange for such a meeting next week.

The Canadian Parliamentary Centre is a non governmental organization that devotes its energy to strengthening democracies especially for parliaments in Africa.