The Parliament of Ghana is expected to formally launch the celebration of its 30th anniversary of Parliamentary Democracy under the Fourth Republic on Wednesday, February 22, 2023, at the Parliament House in Accra.
This was made known in a statement signed by the Director of Public Affairs, Kate Addo and published on Parliament’s Facebook page.
The statement indicated that “Since the turn of the 4th Republic, Parliament has passed over 1000 Bills into law. These include the Right to Information Act, the National Identification Authority Act, the Interpretation Act, the Food and Drugs Act and the Domestic Violence Act, among many other significant Bills”.
The 4th Republican Parliament has so far had seven Speakers, with the first Speaker, Rt Hon Justice Daniel Francis Annan, being the only Speaker to serve two terms.
The only female Speaker was the Rt. Hon. Joyce Adeline Bamford Addo, who was the Speaker of the 5th Parliament.
The launch, which will begin a year-long celebration, marked with various activities, is under the theme “Thirty (30) Years of Parliamentary Democracy Under the Fourth Republic: The Journey This Far”.
Parliament in the statement also said, there has been a marginal increase in the number of female MPs from 16 in 1993 to 40 in 2021.
“The number of female MPs has been relatively low over the past thirty years and have represented less than 20 percent of the membership of the House since 1993. This notwithstanding, there has been a marginal increase in the number of female MPs from 16 in 1993 to 40 in 2021,” Parliament indicated in its statement.
The official launch will be broadcast live on the Ghana Television channels and all the Parliament of Ghana electronic channels and internet handles. Attendance, however, is strictly by invitation.