The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has renewed calls for the construction of a new parliamentary facility and announced plans to pilot an electronic voting system to improve decision making in the House.
Speaking at the launch of Parliament’s five year corporate strategic plan, the Speaker said a formal request has been submitted to the Executive for a parcel of land for the proposed project.
According to him, the current infrastructure used by the legislature presents operational challenges and space constraints that affect the effective discharge of Parliament’s mandate. He noted that the House cannot continue to depend on rented facilities for key aspects of its work.
Mr Bagbin also revealed that an electronic voting system will soon be tested on the floor of the House. The pilot, he said, is aimed at making voting more efficient and transparent while reducing delays in proceedings.
The renewed proposal comes years after plans for a new 450 seat parliamentary chamber were put on hold. In 2019, a proposed 200 million dollar chamber project triggered strong public backlash, with protests both online and on the streets of Accra, leading to the suspension of the plan at the time.
No timeline has yet been announced for the new facility or the rollout of the electronic voting system.