Director of research at the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), Dr. Edem Selormey, has named inadequate inputs from the public in parliamentary work as a major problem.
According to her, there is the need to make way for public influence since parliament alone cannot address all shortcomings.
Speaking at the CDD-Ghana conference in Accra on Tuesday, June 15, 2021, Dr Selormey called for a closer partnership between parliaments and PMOs.
“Some of the key steps required to achieve democratic ideals of parliament include transparency, openness, accountability etc. However, as we know, parliaments across Africa face major challenges of adapting to the demands for representation- information gaps, lack of public influence in parliamentary work.
But parliament alone cannot address these shortcomings; hence the need for support from state and non-state actors/organizations”.
She also raised concerns about the need for parliament to trust the work of civil societies to help shape their activities.
“Often, issues of mistrust of civil society, absence of established protocols of engagement stand in the way of CSOs especially PMOs to continuously engage and contribute positively to improve the democratic standing of parliament”, Dr Selormey stated.
The CDD-Ghana conference was on the topic “Strengthening PMOs in West Africa and Ghana to Enhance Parliamentary Openness, Inclusive Policies, Transparency and Responsiveness.
