Speaker of Parliament Alban S.K. Bagbin has charged the new Parliamentary Friendship Association Management Committee to work to inject a new lease of life into the Association.
He expressed hope that the multiple committees to be established under the Association will become very useful tools in the quest to derive maximum benefits from efforts in parliamentary diplomacy.
The Association, he said, offers a good platform for acquiring best practices to boost the practices and procedures of the member Parliaments.
Speaking at the inauguration of an 11-Member Management Committee on Wednesday in Parliament, Speaker Alban Bagbin noted that the interactive role of Parliamentary Friendship Association offers members opportunity to become exposed to practices from other Parliaments.
This, he observed, will eventually influence their contribution to debate on the floor of their respective legislatures.
“Indeed, personal contacts between Members of Parliament of different countries enhance mutual understanding and establish alternative channels beneficial for bilateral relations between countries.
“Such contacts can be useful to place national problems in context, as well as to initiate activities including those aimed at peace, security, and strengthening democracy and human rights, economic development, improving education and social conditions of their respective countries.
“I will, therefore, urge Members of Parliament to avail yourselves of this opportunity to join various Parliamentary Friendship Associations when they are advertised by the Management Committee.
“I also appeal to Hon. members of the Friendship Association to show genuine interest in the affairs of their partner countries in order to have real interaction with them,” he added.
Committee members
Members of the Management Committee of Parliamentary Friendship Associations of the Eighth Parliament of Ghana has Deputy Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin as Chairman, Deputy Minority Leader James Klutse Avedzi as Vice Chairman.
Other members are Ms Lydia Alhassan, Mr Ahmed Ibrahim, Mr Bryan Acheampong, Mr Samuel Mr Okudzeto Ablakwa, Mr O. B. Amoah, Dr. Emmanuel Marfo and Mr Richard Acheampong.
The committee also has Mr. Richard Kwame Acheampong, Head of Parliament Relations and Protocols as Secretary; and Mrs Anthonia-Gloria French-Okine, Assistant Parliamentary Relations Officer as Assistant Secretary.
Friendship associations
Speaker Bagbin disclosed that by the end of Ghana’s 7th Parliament, Friendship Associations have been established with 38 countries with the relations being characterized by several exchanges.
He noted that the presence of members of the Diplomatic Corps at the inauguration reaffirms the unwavering bond of friendship and excellent relations between Parliament and their respective countries.
The Speaker cautioned that the Parliamentary Friendship Association is governed by law and directed that all members be given copies of the rules and regulations and also copies of the code of conduct for members of Ghana’s Parliament.
Dean of the Diplomatic Corps and Colombian Ambassador to Ghana, Claudia Turbay Quintero, congratulated Ghana’s Parliament for inaugurating the Management Committee.
This important step, she said, offers an enabling platform for creating integration and alliances with countries from different continents as well as other African countries.
She expressed the Corps desire to promote institutional relationships and at the same time person to person relationship.
About Parliamentary Friendship Association
Parliamentary Friendship Association is a cross-party association of legislators established to promote continued dialogue with Members of other Legislatures.
These Associations enter into bilateral or multilateral relations with their counterparts in other Legislatures.
Five or more Members of Parliament may initiate the establishment of a Parliamentary Friendship Association provided that the country with which they intend to relate is a member of the United Nations, has a Legislature and has diplomatic relations with Ghana.
