Uphold national interest — Speaker of Parliament urges journalists

The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has asked members of the media to uphold the nation’s interest with utmost impartiality and balance. 

He asked the media to constantly try to maintain equilibrium, treat everyone fairly and refrain from caving in to pressure to follow personal agendas.

Bagbin, addressing journalists at a Press Soiree in Ho, in the Volta Region, said that “without the media there can be no democracy” and that no government could work effectively without the media.

The engagement formed part of Parliament’s 30th anniversary celebration dubbed: “Thirty (30) Years of Parliamentary Democracy Under the Fourth Republic: The Journey Thus Far.”

He emphasised the role that the media played in strengthening the country’s democracy and its governing systems and urged the personnel to continue to hold the three arms of government accountable on behalf of the people.

Bagbin said the House understood the important role the media played in its functioning and had therefore decided to restructure to establish a direct link of communication with the media and to fortify relations between the two bodies.

Emmanuel Agbaxode, Chairman of the Ghana Journalists’ Association, Volta and Oti Regions, congratulated the Speaker and the entire Parliament on the 30th anniversary.

The Chairman said that for the nation’s democracy to flourish, Parliament and the media must work closely together, noting that the media in the Volta and Oti regions was prepared to collaborate with Parliament.

He urged Parliament to push for laws and policies that protect the media and press freedom in the country… “that way, you get a trusted partner to champion your cause as individual representatives of the people and Parliament as an institution.”

Agbaxode asked Parliament to make sure that all state actors were held truly accountable, pointing out that Parliament could rely on the media to back them in all of their worthwhile endeavours.

He observed that the influence of Parliament was not being felt as much as it should be, “but what people do not also know is that our Parliament has evolved, and but for it, the country would have been much worse.”

Agbaxode said the democratic credentials of the country and some of the good policies and conditions that make Ghana a beacon of hope and preferred destination of many were as a result of the role of Parliament.