Parliament of Ghana@ 30 Forward with Deepening Representation (II)

Another step that needs to be taken is to expand the scope of interaction on Parliament’s online media plat­forms, especially the website. The online pages are usually alive with very critical com­ments on debates of national interest, and it is a testimony of the interest that Ghanaians have developed in the business of the Legislature. The House can leverage on this interest by cre­ating an interface on the website for collecting public inputs into the business of the House.

The websites of many coun­tries all over the world have be­come the flagship for reaching out to their citizens and sam­pling their opinions on the very critical businesses before them. For instance, the website of the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa has an interface titled “Have Your Say” that is purposely for receiving inputs from the public. E-petitions and memoranda on various businesses are presented by the public through this platform and passed on to the commit­tees or functionaries on whose laps they sit. On its part, the Parliament of Kenya has on its website an interface titled “Get Involved”, and citizens have the opportunity to petition both the National Assembly and the Senate, even urging them to enact, amend or repeal some legislations.

The Parliament of Ghana should take a cue from best practices in other parliaments to encourage citizens’ participation in the work of Parliament. On­line fora could be established to open up the exchange of infor­mation with citizens, even on various businesses before the House. To make such exchang­es fruitful, Parliament should consider appointing an online monitor to collect, process and table relevant views to the appropriate quarters.

USE OF MULTIPLE

LANGUAGES

At age 30, the time is ripe for Parliament to introduce a multilingual platform for deliberations in the House. To discriminate positively against linguistically – challenged per­sons, according to section 33 of the Declaration on Opening Parliament, is making room for members of parliament to use multiple national or working languages in debates. Thank God, even though the official language of Ghana is English, Standing Order 47 of the House make provision for the use of seven other dominant indigenous languages notably: Akan; Nzema; Ga; Ewe; Hausa; Dagbani and Dagaare, “or any other local language”.

The only condition prece­dent to using such alternative native languages is that there should be facilities for their interpretation. The Declara­tion reinforces this caveat by calling upon parliaments in such a situation to “make every reasonable effort to provide for the simultaneous inter­pretation of proceedings and rapid translation” of members’ contributions into the official language.In other words, while honourable members may use any of the alternative languages, their contributions would be published in the Official Report on the proceedings of the House in the official language When conditions are created for our representatives to address the House in such indigenous languages, they are empowered to better advocate for their constituents. It also gives them the opportunity to reach out to the numerous Ghanaians who are not proficient in the use of the English Language. Beyond these linguistic advantages, the introduction of indigenous languages into parliamentary debates would convey the very essence of being Ghanaian to the larger world. Attaining three scores in the democratic world is coming of age, and there is no better proof of this than for our elected represen­tatives to advocate for us in our own languages. The time for the Parliament of Ghana to operationalise this provision in its Standing Orders is now. Other aspects of parliamentary business including the opening prayer read by the Speaker, the oaths taken by honourable Members could all be translated into the seven indigenous lan­guages. The Presiding Officer or honourable Members could read the preferred alternative whenever it is convenient.

POSITIVE

DISCRIMINATION

Another measure for deepen­ing representation that is worth considering, apart from boost­ing information circulation and communication, is the delib­erate and automatic consider­ation of minority or vulnerable groups in any participation process. Positive discrimination as it is usually referred to, is a major issue for consideration for parliamentary reforms the world over, and it may take many forms. The best practice guidelines recommended by the Commonwealth Parlia­mentary Association (CPA) for deepening parliamentary democracy for instance calls for “special efforts” to be made by parliaments to “to ensure that more marginalised citizens and groups are able to make their voices heard in parliaments. The groups mentioned in the Guidelines include women, per­sons with disabilities, the youth, ethnic groups and persons who are linguistically challenged.

Indeed, a prominent call by the proponents of affirmative action all over the world is for the deliberate reservation of special seats for women in leg­islatures and other government institutions. Generally speaking, the proportion of parliamentar­ians who are women in Ghana is has increased over time, though the proportion to that of the men is still very low, es­pecially when looked at against the population distribution of women against men in the country. Would this make a case for reserving seats for women in our Parliament? How about the representation of persons with disability, the youth and other vulnerable or specialised groups in the country? The an­swer should not be offered by a newspaper article like this one. There is the need for a national debate on this.

BY HAROLD WILSON HUBERT