Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Edward Doe Adjaho, has charged Parliamentary administrators (Clerks) in the Commonwealth Africa Region to come up with innovative ways to assist lawmakers to address the needs of their citizens.
In his view, the 21st century public do not only demand timely information on issues affecting their lives as a right but also expect the elected representatives to ensure that pressure is brought on the government for the supply and provision of public goods such as water, education, electricity, health care as well as safety and security of the people.
“The greatest threat for democratic experiment will be the failure of the legislature and the political class to respond to the needs of this new breed of public and society in general”.
“The public is therefore expectant that the roles as Parliamentary administrators propose innovative ways of responding to the interest of the public. This is essential if our respective democracies must stand the test of time”, he noted.
The Speaker made this observation when he opened a conference of Society of Clerks at the Table (SoCATT), Africa Region, in Accra on Tuesday.
Continuing, he urged the administrators to be guided by the recent happenings in the Parliament of Burkina Faso where despite the public outcry, the National Assembly persisted in considering an amendment to the Constitution to extend the term of office of the incumbent President.
“This resulted in the storming of the legislative buildings by irate citizenry where the facility was burnt down. This should be a constant reminder and warning post to us and that public interest should be a reason for our existence”.
