The Speaker of Parliament Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin has charged politicians to do something fast to regain the trust of Citizens to promote and deepen democracy.
He therefore, entreated the legislature to as a matter of urgency, start to continue building trust before is destroyed.
Trust according to him is very fragile and once it is broken, fixing it becomes difficult.
Hon. Alban Sumana Bagbin made this statement during the inauguration of the Citizens’ Bureau in Parliament on the theme, “Promoting parliamentary responsiveness and openness through information sharing, Civic engagement and public accountability”.
The Citizens’ Bureau is an office in Parliament that facilitates engagements and information sharing between Parliament and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs). It is a platform through which public information from Parliament is shared with CSOs.
The Bureau facilitates dissemination of information on various relevant research works conducted by CSOs and Think-tanks to Members and Officials of Parliament to enhance their work. The Bureau is equally sesponsible for the formulation, implementation and reporting on Open Parliament initiatives under the Open Government Partnership.
He noted that, the active participation of citizens in the day to day parliamentary activities in the form of information dissemination through the media and the CSOs who serves as a link, to restored the broken trust hence, the establishment of the Citizens Bureau.
The Citizens according to Hon. Bagbin, sees politicians as people who alway ride on their shoulders to access political power but said, it is only a sustained engagement with the them that their trust can be regained.
The interest of Parliament he averred, is to serve the Citizens and ensure that their interest are adhere to saying, Parliamentarians would failed if citizens do not benefit from them.
The media and CSOs the Speaker of Parliament mentioned, represented the voiceless in the society and play a vital role in disseminating information to the Citizens hence, the partnership between them and the Parliament as far as the establishment of the Citizens’ Bureau is concerned.
The establishment of the Citizens’ Bureau is part of Parliament’s efforts to mainstream CSOs participation and harness their contributions to support the work of Parliament.
Parliament has enjoyed the support of various Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), think tanks and the media in the execution of its legislative, oversight, accountability and deliberative functions over the years.
However, this partnership has been ad-hoc in nature. In recognition of the important roles CSOs play in the governance space Parliament under Goal Three (3) of its Corporate Strategic Plan (2020-2024) emphasised the need to strengthen the representational role and public invowement in the work of Parliament by institutionalising Parliament-citizens’ engagement through partnership with media, CSOs and Thinktanks.
The Bureau would facilitate knowledge sharing and evidence gathering for evidence-informed decision making by Parliament.
Among the key activities of the Bureau is to facilitate meetings and engagements between Parliament and CSOs/Think-tanks.
Again, to facilitate the sharing of approved public information from Parliament to CSOs and the general public.
Share relevant information from CSOs such as research reports with Members, Committees and Officials of Parliament.
Facilitate capacity-building for CSOs, Think-tanks and the Media on the work of Parliament.
Partner CSOs to enhance public sensitisation and awareness on the work of Parliament.
