By Valentia Tetteh
The Parliamentary Service of Ghana has organised a two-day capacity-building workshop on public financial management (PFM) reporting for members of the Parliamentary Press Corps.
The training, organised in collaboration with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the World Bank, aims to strengthen the media’s role in promoting transparency and accountability in governance.
The workshop is expected to equip members of the Parliamentary Press Corps with deeper knowledge of Ghana’s public financial management framework and enhance reporting on national budgets, fiscal policies, and parliamentary oversight.
Addressing participants, the Director of Media Relations at the Parliament of Ghana, David Sebastian Damoah, underscored the important role played by the Parliamentary Press Corps in connecting Parliament to the public.
He noted that parliamentary reporting should extend beyond proceedings in the Chamber to include critical national processes such as budget scrutiny, fiscal policy analysis, and oversight of public finances.
Mr Damoah therefore urged members of the Press Corps to take advantage of the training to improve the accuracy and depth of their reporting on financial governance.
Also speaking at the opening session, the Dean of the Parliamentary Press Corps, Simon Agianab, highlighted the importance of specialised knowledge in reporting economic and fiscal issues.
“Economic policies, fiscal decisions and public financial management issues are often presented in technical and specialised language that can be difficult for the ordinary citizen to understand,” he said.
He added that journalists covering Parliament must be adequately equipped with the knowledge and tools needed to interpret complex financial matters and communicate them clearly to the public.
“It is therefore essential that members of the Parliamentary Press Corps are adequately equipped with the knowledge and tools necessary to interpret these issues accurately and communicate them effectively,” he stated.
The training forms part of ongoing efforts by the Parliamentary Service and its development partners to strengthen media capacity and enhance public understanding of Parliament’s oversight role in the management of national finances.
