PARLIAMENT - How It Is Run …

Parliament or the Legislature is not a Ministry. It is an arm of government just like the Executive which is headed by the President and the Judiciary which is also headed by the Chief Justice.

The speaker is elected by Parliament as a body. In practice, he / she is put forward by the party which holds majority of seats in Parliament. In theory, a Member of Parliament (MP) may propose any person who qualifies to be a Member of Parliament as a Speaker. The person(s) thus nominated is /are voted on and the person with the highest votes gets elected. Often times it is by consensus. He / she holds office for four (4) years.

PARLIAMENTARY SERVICE BOARD:
The management team of Parliament is known at the Parliamentary Service Board.

The Board is chaired by the Speaker and has both Majority and Minority Leaders, one former Member of Parliament and a serving Member of Parliament; provided that at least one of the last two shall be a woman and finally, the Clerk of Parliament.

MACE:
Before entering and leaving the chair of speaker-ship for a sitting, the Speaker is led by the “Sword” bearer who is the Marshal or his representative, the Clerk or any of his / her Deputies and other officers at the Table Office.

This “Golden Stick” or the “Sword” is called the MACE.

The Mace is the symbol of authority of Parliament or the Legislature. Parliament was born out of a system of representative government. The Mace is however, the symbol of the power or authority of the people which is given to their representatives to show the power that they wield on behalf of the people. The Mace in Ghana is a wooden carven which is laced with gold.

LEADERSHIP:
The leadership of the House is comprised of the Speaker and her two Deputies; the Majority Leader, the Deputy Majority Leader, the Majority Chief Whip and his two deputies and the Minority Leader, Deputy Minority Leader, the Minority Chief Whip and his two Deputies.

COMMITTEES:
There are three types of Committees: Select - oversees the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs); Standing - Committees of the House and Adhoc - formed for matters which do not fall under any specific MDA. All together, there are 30 Committees (Select and Standing). Each member belongs to at least one of these Committees.

Nonetheless, it is difficult to say which committee is the most important since it is difficult to tell which Ministry is the most important. Without doubt however, the busiest Committee is the Finance Committee.

If the Speaker and her two deputies are not present, Parliament will not sit. If however, all three are unavailable because they have resigned or been impeached or are dead, then Parliament will sit to elect new Speaker and Deputies. Since independence, we have not witnessed such situation. It is important to state that in other jurisdictions, when the Speaker and the Deputies are absent but not vacated their seats, the oldest serving Member may be elected to hold the fort until the substantive speakers return.

HANSARD:
A Hansard is the official record of proceedings in Parliament. It attempts to capture verbatim (word for word) whatever that is said in the House. It is prepared by specially trained people who work under the Clerk of Parliament. These records are stored for posterity. (Future generation).

If there are equal numbers for both Majority and Minority then there is a split or a “Hung Parliament”. There is neither Majority nor Minority. In some places, they resort to rotational leadership. However, in other places, the party which controls the government (that is, Executive Presidency) is given the nominal leadership. This has not yet happened in Ghana's history. It would be interesting should it happen.

MEETINGS:
Parliament has three (3) meetings in a year. This constitutes one session. A meeting normally lasts from eight to ten weeks. It varies occasionally.

A sitting of Parliament is when it convenes for one day. Parliament normally sits from 10: am to 2: pm. occasionally. Getting to the end of a meeting or when there are very important matters, sittings, extend beyond the normal time. Parliamentary sittings are from Tuesdays to Fridays.

As provided for in the Constitution, Parliament has three meetings in a year. In between the meetings, there are situations which recall members from break. Some of these are - important national issues, passing of new bills.

If both the President and his Vice have to travel outside at the same time, the Speaker has to be sworn in as acting President. This has to be done in Parliament.

PARLIAMENTARY STAFF:
Parliamentary Staff include: Accountants to man finances; Research officers to help members in researching bills, etc, Stenographers and Computer literates to help with secretarial, Librarians, Transport officers, Marshal to help with security, Ushers, Nurses, to take care of MPs and other staff, protocol officers, Public Relations Officers, etc.
Junior staffs are employed by the Clerk, assisted by officers from the Human Resource Department but senior staffs are employed by the Parliamentary Service Board.

SALARIES:
Parliamentary work is a full time job; hence, MPs are paid salaries just like any other public worker. MPs do not receive any allowance during Committee sittings.

However, unlike what obtains elsewhere in Africa, Ghanaian Parliamentarians have virtually no benefits when they travel outside until the delegation includes the Speaker, they do not accord any courtesies to the MPs. On recess they are on their own.

QUESTION TIME:
Normally if a member is not satisfied with a Minister's answers, the matter is not left there. If a Minister cannot answer a question well, he / she may plead to allow for more time to come back. Sometimes a questioner may supply factual evidence to contradict a Minister’s answers and the latter may request to come back to clarify issues.
If an MP lies or uses bad language, he may be called to withdraw and apologize. If the MP refuses, he may be sanctioned. Where any member of the public uses bad language against an MP, he / she is made to withdraw and apologize.

A member is punished if he absents himself for 15 days without permission from the Speaker.

QUALITIES:
An MP must know the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana, the standing orders of Parliament. He / she must follow the pieces of legislation Parliament enacts and be diligent. Much of this depends on his / her competence level.

FUTURE MPS:
Children are advised to follow the conduct of Parliament, learn the Constitution of the Republic. They should study hard to build the capacity in their chosen fields of endeavour. Above all, they should lead good and clean lives since Members of Parliament are role models for society.