Parliament of Ghana

Coordinates: 05°33′24″N 00°11′24″W / 5.55667°N 0.19000°W / 5.55667; -0.19000
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Parliament of Ghana
9th Parliament of the 4th Republic
Unicameral
Leadership
First Deputy Speaker
Second Deputy Speaker
Majority Leader
Minority Leader
Structure
Seats276[5]
Political groups
Majority (183)[4]

Minority (92)

Elections
Republic of Ghana
Website
www.parliament.gh

The Parliament of Ghana is the

unicameral legislature of Ghana. It consists of 276 members, who are elected for four-year terms in single-seat constituencies using a first-past-the-post voting
system.

History

Legislative representation in

ex officio president of the body. This system continued until 1951 when the Legislature elected its first Speaker - Sir Emmanuel Charles Quist
.

1951 was also the first year that elections based on

subversion, was released and appointed Leader of Government Business, becoming the country's first Prime Minister
in the following year.

1956 Legislative Assembly election
. The Gold Coast was renamed to Ghana and granted independence on Wednesday, 6 March 1957, while retaining the British monarch as head of state. The Legislative Assembly was renamed National Assembly.

After the approval of a new Republican constitution,

National Assembly Election held in 1965. Nkrumah
was overthrown in 1966 by the military, which banned political parties and dissolved the National Assembly.

The country returned to civilian rule in 1969.

coup
.

During the Third Republic, which lasted from 1979 to 1981, the dominant party in the National Assembly was the

elections held on 18 June 1979. After the military intervened in 1981, all elected institutions were dissolved and political party activity was prohibited.[citation needed
]

Parliament of the Fourth Republic

After 11 years of military rule, a new constitution was approved in a

December parliamentary elections. As a result, Rawlings' National Democratic Congress
(NDC) won 189 out of 200 seats in Parliament.

All parties participated in the

1996 parliamentary elections. The NDC won 133 out of a total of 200 seats, while the main opposition New Patriotic Party
(NPP) won 60. Two smaller political party groups won the remaining seats.

The

presidential poll, John Kufuor of the NPP defeated the NDC candidate John Atta Mills in a run-off
election. In the 200-seat Parliament, the NPP won 100, followed by the NDC's 92. Smaller political party groups and independent candidates won the remaining seats.

Kufuor was

Independent
candidates captured the remaining seat.

The simple majority (or

constituencies
. Members serve four-year terms.

Leadership structure

U.S. President Barack Obama shakes hands after delivering a speech to the Ghanaian Parliament at the Parliament House in July 2009
US Speaker Nancy Pelosi delivering a speech to the Ghanaian Parliament at the Parliament House in July 2019
  • Speaker - The Speaker presides over the Parliament and enforces observance of all rules that govern its conduct. After a general election, the majority party in Parliament in consultation with other parties nominates a Speaker.[7]

The Speaker cannot be a Member of Parliament though they must possess the qualifications to stand for elections as a Member of Parliament, such person on appointment as Speaker must resign and declare the seat occupied in Parliament as vacant. The Speaker is assisted by two Deputy Speakers (First and Second Deputy Speakers), who are elected at the commencement of every Parliament. They must come from different political parties. The current Speaker is

Alban Kingsford Sumani Bagbin.[8]

2020 elections

Main article: 2020 Ghanaian general election

The distribution of seats among the parties following the 2020 general election is as follows.[9]

Composition of Parliament after the 2018 Ghanaian new regions referendum

Region NPP NDC
Ind.
 Total
Ahafo 4 2 - 6
Ashanti
 42 4 1 47
Bono
 6 6 - 12
Bono East
 3 8 - 11
Central 10 13 - 23
Eastern 25 8 - 33
Greater Accra 14 20 - 34
Northern
 9 9 - 18
North East 4 2 - 6
Oti - 8 - 8
Savannah 3 4 - 7
Upper East 1 14 - 15
Upper West 3 8 - 11
Volta 1 17 - 18
Western
 9 8 - 17
Western North 3 6 - 9
Total 137 137 1 275

Committees of Parliament

As at November 2020, the Parliament had fourteen Standing Committees and sixteen Select Committees. There was also one ad hoc committee.[10]

Standing Committees:

Appointments • Business • Committee of Selection • Finance • Gender and Children
Government Assurance • House • Judiciary • Members Holding Offices of Profit • Privileges
Public Accounts • Special Budget • Standing Orders • Subsidiary Legislation

Select Committees:

Communications • Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs • Defence and Interior • Education • Employment, Social Welfare and State Enterprises
Environment, Science and Technology • Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs • Foreign Affairs • Health • Lands and Forestry • Local Government and Rural Development
Mines and Energy • Roads and Transport • Standing Orders • Trade, Industry and Tourism • Works and Housing • Youth, Sports and Culture

Ad-hoc Committee:
Poverty Reduction Strategy committee

Past Speakers of the National Assembly/Parliament

Main article: Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana

Gold Coast (1951 – 1957)

Speaker of the Legislative Assembly and National Assembly in 1957

Name Took office Left office Notes
Emmanuel Charles Quist March 1951 December 1957 [11]

Independent State within the Commonwealth (1957 – 1960) / First Republic (1960 – 1966)

Ghanaian Parliamentary Election Map, 2008
Map of Ghana's parliamentary constituencies as per MP's party affiliation as at 2008. NB: Where constituencies are too small to be shown (i.e. Accra and Tamale Metropolitan Areas) the majority party elected in the district is shown.

Green: National Democratic Congress (NDC) Blue: New Patriotic Party (NPP) Yellow: People's National Convention (PNC) Red: Convention People's Party (CPP)

Grey: Independent

Speakers of the National Assembly

Name Took office Left office Notes
Augustus Molade Akiwumi February 1958 June 1960 [11]
Joseph Richard Asiedu July 1960 June 1965 [11]
Kofi Asante Ofori-Atta 10 June 1965 24 February 1966 [11]

Second Republic (1969 – 1972)

Speaker of the National Assembly

Name Took office Left office Notes
Nii Amaa Ollennu October 1969 13 January 1972 [11]

Third Republic (1979 – 1981)

Speaker of the National Assembly

Name Took office Left office Notes
Jacob Hackenbug Griffiths-Randolph
 24 September 1979 31 December 1981 [11]

Fourth Republic (1992 – present)

Speakers of Parliament

Name Took office Left office Notes
Daniel Francis Annan 7 January 1993 6 January 2001 [11]
Peter Ala Adjetey 7 January 2001 6 January 2005 [11]
Ebenezer Sekyi Hughes
 7 January 2005 6 January 2009 [11]
Joyce Adeline Bamford-Addo 7 January 2009 6 January 2013 [11]
Edward Adjaho 7 January 2013 6 January 2017 [11]
Aaron Mike Oquaye 7 January 2017 6 January 2021 [11]
Alban Sumani Bagbin
 7 January 2021 Incumbent [8]

Members of parliament

The composition of the Parliament has changed over the years. There were 140 members in both the Second and the Third Republic parliaments.

  • 2nd Republic parliament: 1969 — 1972
  • 3rd Republic parliament: 1979 — 1981

In the current Fourth Republic, the number of MPs first increased to 200 and subsequently to 275. There have been 8 parliaments so far in the Fourth Republic.[12] The list of its members are below.

Parliamentary constituencies

Main article:
Ghana Parliament constituencies

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Nana Konadu Agyeman (7 January 2025). "9th Parliament inaugurated, Bagbin, Asiamah re-elected Speaker and 2nd Deputy, Ahiafor joins as 1st Deputy Speaker". Graphic Online. Graphic Communications Group Ltd. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
  2. ^ "Parliament of Ghana". www.parliament.gh.
  3. ^ "Alexander Afenyo-Markin takes over as Majority Leader". 22 February 2024. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  4. ^ "NPP asks Speaker Bagbin to remain impartial as it maintains majority". Myjoyonline. 21 January 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  5. ^ "Statistics". Ghana Elections Peace Fm Online. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  6. ^ "Ghana - Trade, Colonialism, Independence". www.britannica.com. 22 October 2024. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
  7. ^ "Bagbin adjourns Parliament indefinitely". 22 October 2024. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
  8. ^ a b "Bagbin elected Speaker of Parliament". MyJoyOnline. 7 January 2021. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  9. ^ "Parliamentary Results For Elections 2020". www.ghanaweb.com. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
  10. ^ "Committees of Parliament". Parliament of Ghana. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Parliament of Ghana".
  12. ^ "Who is Alban Bagbin? All You Need to Know About Ghana's 7th Speaker of Parliament | The Accra Times". 7 January 2021. Retrieved 6 March 2021.

05°33′24″N 00°11′24″W / 5.55667°N 0.19000°W / 5.55667; -0.19000

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