Parliament Establishes Citizens Bureau To Enhance Stakeholder Engagement

In its quest to enhance stakeholder participation in Ghana’s parliamentary democratic governance process, Parliament has inaugurated a Citizens Bureau to facilitate information sharing between the legislature and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs).

The Bureau is expected to facilitate information dissemination on relevant works conducted by CSOs and Think Tanks to Members of Parliament to bring the House closer to the citizens and make information readily accessible to the public.

It will also be responsible for the formulation, implementation and reporting on Open Parliament Initiatives under the Open Government Partnership.

Inaugurating The Citizens Bureau, the Speaker, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin expressed worry the public about a recent Afro barometer Survey by the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) that revealed public dissatisfaction about democratic institutions that rated parliament, the police service, the electoral commission, the president and the judiciary with very low rates and described the findings as damming of trust of those institutions.

“That was, indeed, a damning rating on trust”, Mr Bagbin said.

The Speaker urged the need for the involvement of citizens in the governance process to help answer all the questions on the minds of the public about the broken trust.

“Hon. Members of Parliament, as representatives of the people and political leaders, we have our work cut out for us. What do we do to rebuild trust in the democratic process? Do not forget that trust is very fragile: once broken, it is difficult to bring it back in its original shape or form. How do we restore the confidence of our people in us as leaders?

How do we make democracy meaningful to citizens? How do we build democratic institutions that our people will believe in? The answers to these questions, largely, lie in the active participation of citizens in the democratic process through sustained engagement. This is part of what the Citizens’ Bureau will work to achieve” Mr Bagbin stated.

The House Speaker who served as Ghana’s longest serving lawmaker until his election as speaker says the way forward is conscious involvement of the citizenry and civil society organizations to engender greater trust in the elected.

The Citizens Bureau he said will help change the narrative for the better through its numerous activities on behalf of the legislature.

“Hon. Members, we must address the current mistrust of the political system and prioritize involving significant individuals and groups in what we do. Ghana’s 1992 Constitution establishes a democratic system that guarantees that sovereignty resides in the people. The government must deploy the powers vested in it in the interest and well-being of the people.

The best way to do this is to involve them. Running for office as representatives of the people comes with a duty to place them at the center of decisions we make and the laws we pass. Our ability to consistently engage significant others and understand their perspectives will determine the quality of our representation. It is that narrative of engagement that the Citizen’s Bureau intends to rewrite” he said.

The bureau intends to rewrite the narrative. Let us work to progressively open up Parliament to the people.