Speaker of Parliament Recommends Chamber be Locked at 10am

Mr Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, who the speaker of Parliament, recommends that from the first meeting of the Fourth Session of the Eighth Parliament of Ghana, people can only enter the Chamber at 10:00 am on each day they meet.

He explained that the decision was part of the measures he was adopting to put in place due to Members of Parliament’s (MPs) attendance at the House.

“Honorable Members, those who arrive late will be locked out until the Speaker decides to open the doors again. At 1000 hours, the doors will be locked. The Speaker will be in, and it will take some time before the doors will be opened. It is not that they will not be opened, but it will take some time.

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“And so if you will not be able to comply with it, let us all agree that we will start sitting in the afternoon, at 1400 or 1600 hours. The Committees will have their meetings in the morning; reports will be ready for us to consider in the afternoon; and then by the time we adjourn around 2000 hours the traffic situation will have improved,” he said.

Mr Bagbin made the statement on the floor when the speaker of Parliament, recommends on the Business Statement for the seventh week ending Saturday, December 16, 2023. In its memorandum to the House presented by Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, the Chairman of the Committee urged the House to commence sitting each day at 1000 hours and have extended sittings to conduct business.

He also recommended that the House sit on Saturday, December 16, 2023, barring any unforeseen circumstances due to the workload.  In his further comments, Mr Bagbin urged the two caucuses to have a joint Caucus meeting to discuss his guidance.

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“You’re coming to Parliament too, and it will not be that early, so you can decide to leave at noon, and by that time, there would have been less traffic, and you wouldn’t consume more fuel, and then you can come in. I can see that it is not easy for members to report that early for sitting, so the two caucuses either have joint caucus meetings or, at your level, discuss these things and come back with proposals. If not, these are the measures that I want to put in place, which will take effect at our next meeting,” he said.

Mr Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin also, alternatively, recommended to the MPs that sittings start at 1400 hours instead of the current 1000 hours, adding that “this will allow committees to hold meetings in the morning and have reports ready for consideration in the afternoon.”

He said that if the house does not reach a consensus, the recommended measures will be implemented starting the next session