Parliamentary Advocacy Project

Parliamentary Advocacy Project (PAP)

The Parliamentary Advocacy Project is a project initiated by the LRC and funded by USAID that aims to strengthen the parliamentary processes in Ghana and establish the dialog between the civil society and parliament.
It is implemented by

1. the facilitation and aggregation of civil input into the legislative process;
2. monitoring the performance of Parliament by tracking Bills and Regulations;
3. setting up the discussion forums and working groups with representatives of the community in order to get their feedback concerning the Bills and Regulations;
4. undertaking collaborative research with the Parliamentary Research Department (PRD) and facilitating the process for the introduction of a Private Members Bill (PMB) in Parliament.

The key activities of  PAP undertaken so far by the LRC include technical legal analysis on selected Bills, workshops or roundtable discussions held in Bills before Parliament, memoranda prepared and submitted to relevant committees of Parliament; and a radio program organized for purposes of publicizing Bills presently before Parliament.

Starting in April of 2006, the LRC initiated the formation of a working group within Parliament comprising staff of the Parliamentary Research Department, representation from the clerk’s office, clerks of selected committees, and representatives from the majority and minority sides of Parliament.

LRC continues with the aggregation of civil input into legislation. Through the facilitation of stakeholders workshops on selected Bills laid or due to be laid before Parliament, the LRC has provided four fora for members of Parliament and relevant stakeholders to discuss four Bills and one Regulation before parliamentary committees and submitted memoranda on such Bills and Regulations to the relevant committees. These Bills and Regulations included the following:

1. Whistle Blower Bill;
2. Anti Terrorism Bill;
3. Transfer of Convicted Person Bill;
4. Food and Drugs Amendment Bill;
5. District Magistrate Court Rules.

During the current period the LRC finalized its proposed PMB on Muslim Marriages and forwarded same to Honourable Mahama Ayariga and Dr. Mustapha Ahmed who will solicit support from two NPP Members of Parliament in order to get it laid in the meeting of Parliament.

The LRC monitors the activities of Parliament closely by tracking on daily basis the activities of Parliament with special emphasis on Bills and Regulations passed; level of civil input into Bills and Regulations; and percentage of Bills passed with or without amendments. The tracking and monitoring of parliamentary activities indicated that so far for the 2006 legislative year 16 Bills had been passed. For the 16 Bills passed, 8 attracted civil input representing 50% percent of the total number of Bills passed, and 13 were passed with amendments representing 81,25% percent of the total number of Bills passed.

In terms of PAP the LRC also collaborates with the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) in the establishment of the CSO/Donor network and the advocacy towards the passage of the Persons with Disability Bill. As a way of sharing experiences with staff of PRD, the main research unit of Parliament, the LRC and CDD have arranged for some staff of PRD to be attached to the research units of the two organizations.

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