The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has shed light on the reasons for not conducting the post-budget review workshop within the Parliament House, citing historical low turnout and disruptions during past experiences.
Bagbin addressed Parliament on November 13, 2023, stating, “Experience has shown that anytime we attempted to hold the post-budget workshop in Parliament, it has not been successful. There have been a lot of disruptions whenever we attempted doing it on the floor of Parliament. So, a lot of members are usually not present, and those who are present can’t focus because of these disruptions. That’s why we have been hosting it outside the precinct of Parliament.”
In response to the country’s financial challenges, Bagbin rejected the use of hotels for the workshop this year.
This decision came after Deputy Minority Leader, Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, suggested holding the workshop at Rock City Hotel, owned by MP Bryan Acheampong.
Expressing concerns about the additional financial burden on state coffers, Bagbin clarified that the House did not decide on using Rock City as the venue for the post-budget review.
Despite the submitted invoices from Volta Sirene and Rock City, the latter was considered too expensive, leading to the decision to hold the workshop within the Parliament House premises in Accra.
“I believe that democracy has finally decided, and the people have prevailed on their representatives to decide that this year’s post-budget workshop be held here in parliament. Reporting on Saturday early in the morning, we will use the floor of the house as the main conference,” affirmed Bagbin.