President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has inaugurated a new office complex in Parliament to provide office space for 23 Members of Parliament who do not have offices in the Job 600 building.
The complex also has offices for staff of the Parliamentary Service Board and waiting areas for drivers and visitors.
At the inaugural ceremony in Parliament in Accra Tuesday, President Akufo-Addo said the new structure was funded solely from state coffers.
While commending the Speaker of Parliament, the Leadership of the House, and the contractors for ensuring a timely completion of the project, he said the structure was expected to help address the infrastructure gap in Parliament.
President Akufo-Addo stressed the need for Parliament to grow in its proper role of becoming effective machinery for accountability and having oversight over the Executive, and not the junior partner of the Executive.
“If we are to deepen democracy, we must have true separation of powers of the various arms of government,” he said and pledged to resource Parliament with the requisite infrastructure and logistics to enable it to play its role effectively.
President Akufo-Addo pointed out that his administration, since assuming office in 2017, had increased the budget allocation to the House by 56.6 per cent.
He praised the Speaker and Leadership of the House for the manner in which they handled the outbreak of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) to control its spread in the House.
The President appealed to the lawmakers and staff of the Parliamentary Service Board to take good care of the new and other structures on their premises.
The Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Mike Oquaye, expressed delight that all MPs had been allocated decent office space to work in.
He said he was optimistic that the new facility would help enhance the effectiveness and quality of work of the legislature.
By Yaw Kyei
