By Edzorna Francis Mensah
Ghana’s Parliament has intended to showcase Ghana’s natural resource endowments to the International Community at the upcoming 66th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference to be held in Accra as part of efforts to promote Ghana’s history, culture, and traditions by leading hundreds of participants to some tourist sites.
Some of the places that they have selected for visit by the delegates on Tuesday, 3rd October 2023 are the Cape Coast Castle, Kakum National Park, Akosombo Hydroelectric Dam/Boat Cruise to Dodi Island,
Bisa Aberwa Museum and wrap it up with a cultural durbar at Manhyia Palace in the Ashanti Region.,
Ghana for the first time is hosting the 66th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference, in Accra, and Accra International Conference Centre is the Venue where over Seven Hundred (700) International Delegates/participants are expected to be in the Country for over seven (7) days.
In September 2019, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), at its 64th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC) held in Kampala, Uganda adopted a request from Ghana among those from other commonwealth nations to host the 66th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference.
The 66th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference will be held under the distinguished patronage of the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, who also doubles as the President of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) and the President of the Ghana Branch of the Association.
The Conference will take place from 30th September to 6th October 2023 at the Accra International Conference under the theme: “The Commonwealth Charter 10 years on: Values and Principles for Parliaments to Uphold”.
At a news conference in Accra ahead of the Conference, the Clerk to Parliament of Ghana, and the Ghana Branch Secretary to the CPA, Cyril Kwabena Oteng Nsiah noted that the conference “is aimed at fostering dialogue and cooperation among member countries to address pressing global challenges within the context of Commonwealth Values. The conference will emphasize the importance of parliamentary diplomacy in addressing these challenges and highlight the role of parliaments in shaping policies that benefit their citizens”.
According to the Clerk, the 7-day Conference will be attended by Speakers and Presiding Officers, Parliamentarians, Clerks-to-Parliaments, Parliamentary Staff, and key Stakeholders in the parliamentary governance sector.
The Parliament of Ghana expects to host about six hundred (600) delegates, observers, and accompanying officials from 56 National Branches (National Legislatures) and 111 Sub-National Branches (State/Provincial Legislatures) across the nine (9) geographic regions of the Commonwealth.
The 66th CPC will be held alongside other Conferences, Meetings, and Workshops at the Accra International Conference Centre, including the
i. 66th CPA General Assembly
ii. Meetings of the CPA Executive Committee
iii. 39th CPA Small Branches Conference
iv. Meetings of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP)
v. Meeting of Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities (CPwD) networks
vi. 57th Meeting of the Society of Clerks at the Table (SoCATT)
vii. Presentation of the 2023 Commonwealth Parliamentarian of the Year awards
This year’s conference will commence officially with an opening ceremony on Wednesday, 4th October, 2023 under the distinguished patronage of His Excellency the President of the Republic of Ghana and Vice-Patron of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
His Excellency the President will be the Keynote Speaker.
The opening ceremony will be followed by workshops to discuss various topics relating to security, human rights, environment, economy, gender, and other cross-cutting issues.
Host nation’s workshop which will be organized by Ghana deliberate on the topic: Combating the threat of terrorism to Statehood: the Role of Parliament.
He said, “We have invited the Hon. Minister of National Security to lead discussions on the topic”.
The Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC), an annual conference of CPA, was first held in the United Kingdom in 1948. The Conference was held bi-annually until 1961 when it became an annual event, organized on a rotational basis in all regions of the Commonwealth across the world.
The CPA Africa Region has hosted the highest number of Conferences.
The 66th CPC which will be held in Accra, Ghana will be the 17th time the CPA Africa Region is hosting the Conference. security, human rights, environment, economy, gender,
Before the official opening of the Conference, there will be an Inaugural Lecture in memory of Hon. Emilia Monjowa Lifaka on Monday, 2nd October, 2023 from 19:00 to 20:00 GMT at the Accra International Conference Centre, Ghana.
Hon. Monjowa Lifaka is a former Deputy Speaker of Cameroon who was a passionate champion of the CPA and served as CPA Chairperson from November 2017 until her demise in April 2021. The Lecture which is to pay tribute to her is opened to the general public.
A paper will be presented by Ms Betty Abeng, Chief Executive Officer of the Commonwealth Education Trust, with Dr. Leslie Casely-Hayford, a Ghana-based international education development expert as the discussant.
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