Ghana\u2019s Parliament has adopted a new set of stringent rules, which it hopes will help save the sinking image of the Ghanaian Legislature.<\/p>\n
The rules among other things restricts Members of Parliament (MP) from accepting gifts which might reasonably be considered as given with the intension of influencing the Member\u2019s ability to perform his or her duties conscientiously.<\/p>\n
The rules, titled \u201cCode of Conduct for Members of Parliament of the Republic of Ghana\u201d are the first by the Ghanaian legislature since Ghana returned to constitutional rule.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”HviJ13yclJcN9sm2qX6cF5JsFI2AqH5G”]The Majority Leader of Parliament, Alban Bagbin had earlier alleged that some MPs take bribes<\/strong><\/a><\/span> to articulate the views of some individuals and organizations on the floor of Parliament.<\/p>\n According to him, the practice had persisted because of the lack of laid-down rules and ethics on lobbying in the country.<\/p>\n The code of conduct has an elaborate regime for punishing errant MPs whose conduct bring either their own name into disrepute or affect the image of the nation\u2019s law-making House.<\/p>\n Speaking to Citi News<\/strong>\u2019 Richard Dela Sky, the Majority Leader in Parliament, Alban Bagbin said: \u201cThe code of conduct has been adopted but we will now have to go beyond just the skeletal principles and rules of the code to put in detail in a manual, what we mean by each principle and rule.\u201d<\/p>\n He explained that \u201cif Members of Parliament should not receive gifts, we know in practice and in reality there are some of gifts that you cannot refuse and therefore in receiving those gifts, you would have a value put on them. When they are below some value, it means the member can have it when they are above that value, there should be provision as to how they should be disposed off. This is the practice in advanced democracies.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking on Eyewitness News<\/strong> on Monday, the Member of Parliament for Asawase and Majority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mubarak said: “I believe that with the coming into effect of this code of conduct, I believe that we should make it explicitly and be able to hold ourselves more accountable than the test in the constitution.”<\/p>\n He mentioned that “as a House wanting to create an image to show that we are really representatives of the people and we take their time very serious, there was the need to adopt a guided code that directs their actions.<\/p>\n Click on link below to read\u00a0the full Code of Conduct:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n