Parliamentary delegation returns home

THE Minority Leader in Parliament, Alban Bagbin, returned home at the weekend from Ottawa, Canada, at the head of a three-member parliamentary delegation that attended the global conference of parliamentarians against corruption.

The conference, which was attended by more than 300 parliamentarians (MPs) and 260 observers from all over the world, formally launched the Global Organisation of Parliamentarians Against Corruption (GOPAC).

Speaking to newsmen on arrival at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA), Mr Bagbin said the GOPAC has adopted a constitution and also elected a board of directors to steer its operations. It aims at building an international network of MPs, organised on a regional basis, to fight corruption and promote and sustain good governance.

Mr Bagbin said the organisation will sponsor regional workshops and conferences, gather, disseminate and share information through the monitoring of progress and best practices in the fight against corruption. He said there is already a continental anti-corruption organisation known as Africa Parliamentarians Network Against Corruption, APNET.

The Majority Chief Whip, Mr Osei Kye-Mensah Bonsu, who was on the delegation, presented a paper on Ghana’s experience in the fight against corruption. Also on the delegation was the Minority Whip, Mr Doe Adjaho. In a related development, the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr Freddie Blay, left Accra on Friday night for Khartoum, Sudan, at the head of a six-member Parliamentary delegation to attend the 25th Conference of Speakers of National Assemblies of the Africa Parliamentary Union (APU).

Other members of the delegation are: Mr S.O. Darko, Mr Nobert Awuley, Mr Emmanuel Adjei-Boye, Mr Reginald Niibi Ayibonte and Mr John Agamah, Deputy Clerk of Parliament. The conference, which opens on Wednesday, will be preceded by the 41st Session of the Executive Committee meeting of APU.

The conference will discuss the role of African women in decision making, NEPAD and the promotion of the culture of peace in Africa, among others. The delegation will be away for a week.