British MPs call on Speaker of parliament

The visiting six-member delegation of British Members of Parliament, has called on the Speaker, Mr. Justice Daniel Francis Annan and later held discussions with their Ghanaian counterparts on political and socio-economic issues.

Mr. Justice Annan briefed the delegation on the country's democratic evolution, which, he said, had culminated in a constitutional democracy and the inception of the Fourth Republic. He said Parliament was making every effort to ensure the success of the country's democratic experiment and enhance good governance. The House is doing this through interactions with other democratic institutions and by organizing forums to open the doors of Parliament to the public to appreciate the work of the legislature and give it the needed support.

He noted the importance of interactions between legislatures and expressed the hope that such exchanges would help strengthen the nation's young democracy. The Speaker told the delegation that Ghana is playing a leadership role in the effort to establish an ECOWAS Parliament to serve as a forum to help ensure peace and stability in the West African sub-region.

Ms Dianne Abbott, leader of the delegation, said the group was in the country to get first-hand information on its political and socio-economic developments with the view to deepening links not only between the two Parliaments but also between Britain and Ghana.

Later at a news conference, Ms Abbott re-echoed the delegation's mission to get an informed opinion about the country and said this would enable the members to put up a strong case for possible British trade and investment in Ghana. On the falling world market prices of gold and cocoa, a member of the delegation advised that Ghana should add value to its primary commodities to enable it to absorb the shocks brought about by such price falls. He said, "we want to see what we can do to help Ghana to get the opportunity to export finished products instead of raw material".