GHANA’S Parliament has come a long way in its journey so far as the Fourth Republic is concerned. The country has so far witnessed four republics and hopefully the Fourth Republican Constitution will be in force till thy kingdom come.
Despite our difficulties and challenges in our democratic governance, many Ghanaians are of the view that the system should be maintained rather than the countless military interventions the country has experienced over the years.
The most common features of all the four Republican Constitutions are Office of the Speaker, Office of the Clerk of Parliament, Majority/Minority, Regulation of proceedings by Standing Orders and Committee System.
The Majority side of the House is made up of the ruling party in power at any given time. They sit at the right hand of the Speaker in the chamber while the Minority caucus is made up of parties which are not in government and are tagged as the opposition.
The Majority/Minority system fell flat in the face in 1964 during the establishment of a one-party state and the abolition of other parties by law. Throughout the four republicans there has been no instance where members of the Minority caucus (opposition side) outnumbered those in government (Majority caucus).
One unique feature of the First Republican Constitution was that ministers of state were hand-picked from among Members of Parliament (MPs) and presented bills and other matters that fell within their portfolios to the August House.
Here the President, in accordance with the Constitution, attended to Parliament to deliver his ‘[Sessional Address’ in which he presented policies and programmes that the government intended to pursue during the session. The president was also responsible for placing the final seal on bills to pass them into laws like its being done under the Fourth Republican Constitution.
During this period, there were no specific committees to examine bills and report to the House. However, there was also the Committee of Whole, which was usually chaired by the First Deputy Speaker.
The five Sectional Select Committees include: The House Committee, Committee of Privileges, Public Accounts Committee, Business Committee and Standing Orders Committee. These committees are prominent features of the Fourth Republic.
The Second Republican Constitution (1969) witnessed a slight change in the way things were done. Here, there was an introduction of a Prime Minister in addition to the ministers of state who were all MPs and their appointment was done by the president.
However, there was a sharp change during the Third Republican Constitution (1979), here the executive president appointed his ministers exclusively from outside the membership of Parliament albeit with prior approval of Parliament.
The Fourth Republican Constitution (1992) is a hybrid system of government made up of the parliamentary and presidential system, in which the executive president has majority of his ministers appointed from Parliament. Meanwhile, ministers appointed from outside Parliament, may participate in debates in the House but cannot vote.
The committees of Parliament of the First Republic, in particular, were classified into Sessional Select Committees and Ad-hoc Committees. The select committees were appointed at the beginning of each session for the duration of that session and could make recommendations for adoption by the House.
The Ad-hoc Committees were appointed as and when the need arose. Committees could only take decisions when they were so empowered by the House.
The committee system as we noted runs through the Second, Third, and Fourth Republican Parliaments. The various constitutions require the appointment of committees from among MPs to enquire into activities and administrations of ministries, departments and agencies as assigned to them.
The location of Ghana’s Parliament has changed over the years. The King George V Memorial Hall, a recreational centre for residents of Accra, the capital city of Ghana, was refurbished to house the first Parliament of the First Republic in July 1960.
Succeeding Parliament of the Second (1969-1972) and Third (1979-1981) Republics were also housed at the same location. However, the Fourth Republican Parliament has been housed at its current location at the State House, Osu, Accra, which was originally the Kwame Nkrumah Conference Centre.
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