Ghana’s Parliament Ranked Best Open Parliament In Africa

The Parliament of Ghana has been rated the best Open Parliament in Africa in 2022, according to the Open Parliament Index (OPI) which was launched in July 2022.

The Open Parliament Index is conducted once every two years and it is measured using three criteria including; transparency, civic participation and public accountability to assess Parliaments across Africa .

The Member of Parliament for Ho West, Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah, who disclosed this on the floor of Parliament, on Tuesday, December 20, 2022, said that Ghana beat the Parliaments of Cape Verde and Sierra Leone to the top position with the two countries taking the 2nd and 3rd positions respectively.

“With an overall score of 63.03 percent, (Ghana) beat its closest rival, Cape Verde which scored 61.86 percent and Sierra Leone that scored 57.9 percent.

“According to the report, Ghana scored lowest on public accountability with 14.32 percent out of 30 percent while we scored highest in the transparency category with 27.71 percent out of 35 percent allotted to that category.

“It scored 21 percent for civic participation out of 35 percent total score for that area,” the MP said.

On his part, the MP for Sekondi, Andrew Egyapa Mercer said that it is refreshing that the Parliament of Ghana has chalked this feat.

“Especially because, Speaker, I’m sure as members are aware we are almost always at the receiving end of public criticism. This Parliament especially receives its share of banter from our media men and civil society organisations,” he said.