News:
March 16, 2014
Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Edward Doe Adjaho, has urged Journalist especially members of the Parliamentary Press Corp to specialize in various aspects of parliamentary work.
According to him, this move will go a long way in deepening their knowledge in parliamentary practice while it also enriches the quality of reports filed for public consumption.
The advice was contained in a speech read on behalf of the Speaker by the First Deputy Speaker, Hon. Ebo Barton Odro at a Two Day Workshop held over the weekend at Dodowa on Parliamentary Reporting, themed: The Parliamentary Reporter as Effective Linkage between Parliament and the Public.
He bemoaned the high attrition rate among members of the Parliamentary Press Corp, calling on media houses to maintain their reporters in parliament for a longer time for them to gain the needed experience.
“If after resources are committed into training a journalist on Parliamentary proceedings and the person is re-assigned elsewhere to pursue other interest almost immediately after the training, the reporter cannot establish an enduring parliamentary reporting culture that others can use as a guide or reference point” the Speaker noted.
The Speaker further emphasized the need for Journalists whose duty it is to inform and educate the public on various subjects to seek knowledge by doing a lot of research on several issues while they also undergo in-service training to enable them better serve the public.
The Second Deputy Minority Chief Whip, Ignatius Baffour Awuah who represented the Minority Leader asked members of the Parliamentary Press Corp not to focus too much on gaffes committed by some MPs as has happened in the past two weeks but concentrate on supplying the public with detailed and well balanced reports of proceedings on the floor of the House.
He further urged reporters not to hurriedly leave the House by 12 noon as happens sometimes but spend a lot more time in Parliament to comprehensively cover proceedings of the day.
For his part, Hon. Fritz Baffour MP for Ablekuma South who represented the Majority Leader urged the reporters to spend time to understand the nitty gritties of Parliamentary work to enhance their reports.
The reporters were taken through topics such as: Significance of the Standing Orders in Parliamentary Business, with the resource person being, Mr Cyril Oteng Nsiah(Deputy Clerk, Parliament), Constitutional Provision and the Development of Parliamentary Democracy, handled by Lawyer Kweku Agyemang Budu, (Justice Foundation) and Bill Cycle(Appropriation Bill and Supplementary Appropriation Bill) as test case handled by Mr Emmanuel Djiertroh, (Head, Table Office, Parliament).
Kwadwo Anim/Ghanamps.gov.gh