• The Speaker of Parliament has affirmed his commitment to see to the passage of the Affirmative Action Bill into law

• The Speaker called on members of the House to reflect on the theme for this year’s African Union Day celebration and leverage on it for building Africa we want

• The Speaker said Standing Orders Committee will address the house on what they decided on in accordance with the provisions of Art, 11(7)

The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, on Tuesday, May 25, 2021, opened the Second Meeting of the First Session of the Eighth Parliament of the fourth republic with a firm commitment to see to the passage of the Affirmative Action Bill into law alongside other pending Bills before the House.

Before parliament recessed in March this year, a number of bills were pending, critical amongst them being the Affirmative Action Bill which he said is before cabinet.

The Affirmative Action Bill when passed into law will ensure that a critical number of women are in key positions in governance, public life and in decision-making spaces that will improve the lives of women generally and will also lead to consequential changes in existing laws and policies to improve the lives of women.

“Please the honeymoon period is over, we are in the operational period now and we will start to enforce the rules. Honourable members it is true, like medical practitioners, there is no rest for an MP. There are a number of bills to be passed in this second meeting, like the Affirmative action bill, I urge all Members to be present always so all these bills can be passed,” he said

This second meeting according to Speaker Bagbin will also consider, the Supplementary Appropriation Bill, 2020, the Ghana Standards Authority Bill, the Exemption Bill, the Consumer Protection Bill, the Petroleum Revenue Management (Amendment) Bill, and the Advertising Council Bill.

The Speaker also charged the House to reflect on the theme for this year’s African Union Day celebration which is “Arts, culture, and heritage: Levers for building the Africa we want.” According to Mr Bagbin, the theme is meant to focus on the celebration of the day to reflect on how Africa could leverage the infinite resources of creative arts, culture, and the proud heritage to drive development for the continent and its people.

“As we celebrate the African Union Day, I will urge all Honorable Members of the house to reflect on the theme for this year’s African Union Day celebration which is “Arts, culture, and heritage: Levers for building the Africa we want,” he noted.

He reminded members never to lose sight of the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on most countries in Europe and Asia with India being the latest worst-hit country and religiously adhere to the protocols.

On the proposed amendments to the standing orders, the Speaker announced that the Standing Orders Committee met during the recess and decided, upon concluding its work, to present it to the House in accordance with the provisions of Art, 11(7) of the 1992 constitution and orders 77 and 166 of the Standing Orders of the House. He said the committee took notice of the informal practice and process of pre-laying constitutional and statutory instruments before the subsidiary Legislations Committee and has agreed to follow the same before presenting the draft standing orders to the House.