Amend Constitution for parliament to draft budget - Bagbin

Accra, March 20, GNA - Mr. Alban Bagbin, Minority leader last night called for a Constitutional amendment that would give Parliament the mandate to participate more effectively in the drafting stage of the budget.

He also called for the establishment of a budget office that would require legislative backing, to offer requisite analysis and alternatives on budgeting to achieve national objectives. Mr. Bagbin made the call at a two-day workshop on strengthening public accountability through improved media understanding of the budgetary process for senior journalist drawn from the Ghana News Agency, the Ghanaian Times and the Daily Graphic. The workshop is being organised by the Ghana Journalist Association, World Bank and KAB Governance Consult, a Non-Governmental Organisation. Mr Bagbin said there was the need to strengthen the institutional capacity of parliament to effectively monitor the budget and the issues of good governance and the promotion of democratic principles. He referred to Parliament's Enhanced Strategic Plan, Objective 3 (2), which states: "Strengthen parliament's significance in budget-making, approval and oversight". The Minority leaders said the improvement in access to budget information would require the review and passage of the Right to Information Bill as well as an amendment of the standing orders to allow Oversight Committee of Parliament to set their own agenda on issues to investigate.

He suggested the autonomy of the Attorney-General and the building of a strong relationship with Parliament while structures were introduced to enforce and follow up reports of the Public Account Committee.

Mr. Bagbin said one way in which political parties could receive state funding could be the employment of research officers to support Parliament.

He explained that in that case the institutional capacities of Parliament should be strengthened to enable parliamentarians to effectively monitor their role especially on budgets and government policies.

Dr. Samuel Ashong, a research fellow of the Centre of Policy Analysis, who spoke on macro-economic indicators said Ghana's achievement of macro-economic stability has created conducive environment for investment and businesses to thrive. Mr. Philip Buabeng, Principal, National Banking College said the establishment of the Monetary Policy Committee has guided the Bank of Ghana to keep inflation and money supply in control.