Chairman of the Communications Committee of Ghana’s Parliament and former lawmaker in the Community Parliament, Mr. Fredrick Opare-Ansah has said virtual session is the good way to go in the wake of the novel corona pandemic in the West African sub-region.
According to him virtual meeting of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament can work for smaller numbers.
“Where there is a rigid rule like a Parliament has, you can have one person moderating a meeting and other people coming in one after the other”.
In the case of the Community Parliament which is made up of one hundred and fifteen (115) members from fifteen member states, Mr. Opare-Ansah noted that it was not going to be easy for the virtual session.
He further recounted that in the case of the Ebola outbreak when the Community Parliament had to sit on few occasions not at the pick of the disease on the sides they held some meetings but ensure that members adhered strictly to the protocols.
This was in an interview when Ghanamps.com wanted to know if it’s possible to hold a meeting at Abuja of the Community Parliament in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak this year. He said “it is possible to do this but certainly not at this time when the pandemic seems to be at the worse across the sub-region”, he said.
Mr. Opare-Ansah further pointed out that the strength of a Parliament hinges on its Committees when questioned if the number of lawmakers should be cut down to afford the Parliament the opportunity to have a virtual meeting.
In addition, he anoted that the Bureau can easily set up ad hoc committees which usually would not be more than ten members led by a Speaker, or a Deputy Speaker with adequate representation to do any urgent work.
Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com
