ISL.5/PR.7

The Speaker of Parliament, the Right Honourable Peter Ala Adjetey has emphasised the need for MPs to consider initiating bills or private members' motions in Parliament in the coming years as an added dimension to the work of that august body.

Mr.Ala Adjetey made the comment at a special Forum with staff of the Ghana High Commission in London.

He underscored the importance of discipline in every facet of our national life and called on members of staff to let the spirit of discipline permeate all their activities.

The forum was organised at the instance of His Excellency Mr. Isaac Osei, Ghana's High Commission to the United Kingdom, to enable members of staff acquaint themselves with current developments at home.

Panel members at the special forum were Honourable Paapa Owusu-Ankomah, Majority Leader and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Honourable Alban Bagbin, Minority leader and Honourable Kwabena Okercheri, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee of Parliament.

The others are Honourable Kofi Attoh, MP for Ho Central and ranking member of the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs, Honourable Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, Government Chief Whip and Honourable A. Asiedu Nketiah..

In his contribution, Honourable Paapa Owusu-Ankomah described the level of co-operation between the majority and the minority as very healthy and added that the situation had argured well for the development and enhancement of the country's democracy.

He said Parliamentarians on both sides of the House remained committed to the development of the principles of democratic culture and added that despite heated debates on the floor of the House on issues, Parliament had performed creditably during the year although there is room for improvement.

Honourable Bagbin assured his audience that the tendency of the Minority to put the government on its toes fell within the purview of the work of the minority which, he said should not be misconstrued as an attempt to pull down the government of the day.

In his closing remarks, the High Commissioner, His Excellency Mr. Isaac Osei said the battle for socio-economic development was on-going and stressed the need for Ghanaians to join the crusade which will create wealth for all.

He noted that government would continue to reach out to all Ghanaians in pursuance of it's policy of inclusiveness in order to bring on board all identifiable talents for national development.

The forum provided the opportunity for the panel members to comment, discuss and answer questions on a wide range of national issues. Subjects covered included the implementation of the Dual Citizenship law, the participation of Ghanaians abroad in the 2004 elections, the rehabilitation of the Job 600 complex as offices for MP's, duties on importation of vehicles into Ghana and the introduction of various initiatives to improve the performance of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre.

It was suggested that duties on new vehicles should be reduced in order to encourage Ghanaians to purchase new vehicles. The purchase of new vehicles, it was pointed out, would save the nation a lot of foreign exchange used in the importation of spare parts, cut the consumption of fuel and improve the air-quality in the country.

ISSUED BY THE

GHANA HIGH COMMISSION, LONDON.

28TH MARCH 2002