By Elsie Appiah-Osei
Accra, Aug 28, GNA – Mr Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin, the Speaker of Parliament, has been elected the President of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association International (CPA), comprising more than 180 member parliaments of the Commonwealth Nations.
He was unanimously elected at the just-ended 65th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC) hosted by Canada in Halifax.
A statement issued by the Public Affairs Directorate of Parliament and copied to the Ghana News Agency, said Mr Bagbin, until his election, was the Vice-President of the CPA.
“As President of the CPA, Ghana has been allowed to host the 66th Conference of the CPA in Accra from the 30th of September to the 7th of October 2023,” it said.
The election made Speaker Bagbin the Head of the CPA and he will preside over the next CPC in Ghana while also serving as the Chair of the Elections Committee of the Association.
“The Speaker is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Association whose other roles and duties are constitutionally bestowed on him,” the statement said.
At the conference, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, the Majority Leader, was also elected the Vice Chairman of the Association, and by that, he held the second most important position of the Executive Committee and the Coordinating Committee of the Association, it said.
“He, thus, becomes the Deputy Spokesperson of the CPA and will assist the Chairman of the Association, Hon. Ian Liddell-Grainger, MP, Member of the House of Commons, UK, in providing leadership for the running of the Executive Committee of the Association.”
“Rt. Hon. Alban S. K. Bagbin, undoubtedly, the most experienced MP of the Parliament of Ghana, with the support of one of the second most experienced legislators of the Parliament, Hon. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu comes in handy at a time the Association has been making epileptic program at transforming itself from a Charity Organization under UK Law into an international, inter-parliamentary organization.”
The statement said tried and tested leadership was needed to consummate that aspiration and the hopes of the over 180 branches from both Anglophone and Francophone countries were very high and expectant of the leadership of Speaker Bagbin and Liddell-Grainger.
“With the indomitable spirit and support of Ghana and all Ghanaians, these Parliamentary icons will not only lift high the flag of the country but lead in marketing the culture, traditions, governance and the rich wealth and hospitality of our people, at the 66th Conference of the CPC next year,” it said.
It called on all compatriots to rise to the occasion and lend a helping hand to celebrate the historic achievement of the country, adding; “Success can only be guaranteed, in this regard, when Ghanaians work together.”
Amendments to the Constitution of the Association to make Parliaments in the Commonwealth more relevant, accessible, technologically savvy, gender-sensitive, balanced, and inclusive of the youth, and the marginalised, especially persons with disability, are some of the major issues discussed at the annual conference.
Members of Ghana’s delegation to Canada, led by Speaker Bagbin, included the Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu, Ahmed Ibrahim, Deputy Minority Whip, Thomas Mbomba, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Lydia Seyram Alhassan, Deputy Majority Whip, Comfort Cudjoe-Ghansah Doyoe, Second Deputy Minority Whip, Nana Ama Dokua Asiamah-Adjei, MP, Akwapim North, Cyril Kwabena Nsiah, Clerk to Parliament.
GNA