By Melissa Sackey
The Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has urged Members of Parliament (MPs) to take the Annual Parliamentary Committees Leadership Programme seriously, emphasising its importance in strengthening parliamentary governance and improving their service to constituents.
Addressing participants at the 2026 edition of the programme in Accra, organised by the Parliamentary Training Institute under the theme, “Enhancing Committee Leadership for Effective Parliamentary Governance”, Mr Bagbin said the training was essential to equipping MPs with the skills and knowledge required to perform their legislative responsibilities effectively.
He encouraged members to view the programme as an investment in their personal development, Parliament and the people they represent.
“Empower yourself. It is for your own benefit and that of Parliament and the people you represent,” he urged.
Mr Bagbin noted that committee leadership went beyond presiding over meetings, determining agendas or supervising the preparation of reports.
According to him, effective committee leadership required the ability to guide collective deliberations, reconcile competing perspectives, uphold parliamentary procedures and facilitate decisions that advanced the national interest.
The Majority Leader and Member of Parliament for Builsa North, James Agalga, highlighted the importance of consensus-building and collaboration in parliamentary committee work, stating that the credibility of MPs was strengthened when diverse perspectives were given fair consideration.
He stressed that effective committee leadership must be grounded in cooperation, mutual respect and a shared commitment to national development.
Former Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu also called for a broader understanding of the responsibilities of parliamentarians, particularly in their engagement with constituents.
He said MPs must possess a wide range of knowledge to enable them to respond effectively to questions from the people they represent, describing the ideal parliamentarian as a “generalist”.
The Annual Parliamentary Committees Leadership Programme aims to enhance the leadership capacity of committee members, promote effective legislative work, strengthen parliamentary oversight and improve governance.
