Accra, March 18, GNA - Vice President John Dramani Mahama, on Wednesday said Ghana owed her excellent democratic credentials to the good work of previous parliamentarians and organisations that lent their support. Vice President Mahama in a speech read for him by the Deputy Minister of Health, Mr Rojo Mettle Nunoo, said former parliamentarians were better placed to bear testimony of the organisations and groups whose contributions to parliamentary democracy and good governance had brought the country this far.

He said this at the First Promoter of Parliamentary Democracy Awards dinner organized by the Forum for Former Members of Parliament (FFMP) at the Banquet Hall, State House in Accra. The occasion was used to honour the organisations that have contributed to the growth of democracy in Ghana.

Vice President Mahama told the FFMP to help the national development agenda as senior statesmen in order to forge ahead democratic advocacy in a non partisan manner.

He thanked all the organisations that contributed to support parliament and called on them to continue with such assistance. Mr Cletus Avoka, Majority Leader, who chaired the event, said parliament thrived on procedure but said unfortunately the practices and procedures have not been documented to assist parliamentary growth. He said a forum of this nature would give the opportunity to young MPs to tap the experiences of the old ones.

He noted that every MP was a potential member of the forum and pledged the support towards the realization of its objectives. Mr Kosi Kedem, President of the Forum, said a lot would be done to bring true and stable democratic culture in Ghana. "Some people hold the view that politics in Ghana is still plagued with tribalism, nepotism, winner-take-all attitude, weak parliament, excessive executive power and corrupt executive." he said. Mr Kedem said the main concern of the FFMP was to purge the system of these undesirable elements.

Present at the event were Mr Doe Adjaho, Second Deputy Speaker, Mr Rashid Pelpuo, Deputy Majority Leader, Mr Gershon Gbediame, Majority Chief Whip, some current Members of Parliament and some members diplomatic corps. The organisations that were honoured include the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), Institute for Democratic Governance, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) and Canadian International Development Agency, (CIDA). The rest were the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Parliamentary Centre, Centre for Democratic Development and Association of European Parliamentarian with Africa.