You cannot exclude Parliament in your negotiations with the Executive – Speaker to World Bank and IMF

Ghana’s Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has asked the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund not to sideline Parliament in their negotiations with the Executive.

In his submission, the Speaker indicated the IMF and the World Bank must be more democratic than they are.

He said in negotiating deals with Ghana, they must engage the parliament.

The Speaker noted that "the two institutions should know that in negotiating these things, they must hear from this House and get our stamp, and then they carry the whole country along."

He lamented that "when it is only with the Executive, then it means that the world’s structures we’ve established have outlived their usefulness, and we now have to get new structures, including the United Nations. We have to change those structures to respond to the current relatives of our time. That is a notice to the IMF and the World Bank."

To the Finance Minister, he admonished him to seek approval from parliament before implementing any policy or policies.

He told him that the Jubilee House represents the state, whereas the Parliament of Ghana represents the people.

"This is where the powers are, and this is where sovereignty resides. Sovereignty is in the people, and we represent the people. And the powers of government are also in the people. So anytime there is any key issue like a key policy, you need the approval of this House; very important. You can get the go-ahead from the Jubilee House, but this house is the one that would approve and say it is in the interest of the people so go ahead and implement it,” he said.