Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon Alban Bagbin has proposed stricter measures to address the issue of late attendance among members of Parliament.
He mentioned that beginning next year, entry points to the Chamber will be locked at 10:00 AM on each sitting day. Members who arrive late will be locked out until the Speaker decides to open the doors again.
“The parliament of the fourth republic at 10 am, would be locked the doors will be locked, the Speaker will be in, yes and it will take some time before the doors are opened. Note that it will be opened but it will take some time.”
As an alternative, the Speaker has offered the option of starting sittings at 2:00 PM instead of the current 10:00 AM schedule. This would allow committees to hold meetings in the morning and have reports ready for consideration in the afternoon.
“If we are not able to comply with it then please let’s all agree that we always start sitting in the afternoon from 2 pm to 4 pm. The committee who have their meetings in the morning can come and reports will be ready for us to consider in the afternoon. And then by the time we adjourn either eight pm or 8 pm, the traffic situation has improved and fuel will be used too much.”
“You coming to parliament too will not be that early unless you have a committee sitting so you can decide to leave at 12pm.”
He also acknowledged the difficulty of attending early sessions and encouraged the two caucuses to discuss and propose alternative solutions.
“These are proposals I made earlier on which were rejected but I can see it’s not easy for members to report that area for safety. So the two caucuses either have joint purposes meeting or at your level, you discuss this and come back with proposals.”
Rt. Hon Alban Bagbin further emphasized that if no consensus is reached, the proposed measures will be implemented starting the next session.
“If not these are the measures that I want to put in place which will take effect from the next meeting.
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Story by: Atiah Eunice Ayinbota | univers.ug.edu.gh
