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Local Government Committee Takes Parliament to the Grassroots – Sene East MP

As part of efforts to bridge the gap between Parliament and citizens, the Local Government Committee has engaged assembly-level stakeholders in a move to challenge the perception that parliamentary work is confined to the chamber.

Date Created : 3/24/2026 : Story Author : Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanadistricts.com

Dominic Napare, Member of Parliament for Sene East and a member of the committee, said the initiative follows the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin’s call for oversight responsibilities to be taken directly to the people.

According to the MP, the approach will strengthen accountability and help Ghanaians better understand Parliament’s work, enabling them to offer informed feedback.

“We also want to bring on board the people that the assemblies are serving, so that they understand what they are doing in terms of providing services,” Mr. Napare explained. “At that particular meeting, let them know what the assemblies would do for them, so that they can assert whether the assemblies are doing that for them or not.”

He noted that the assemblies welcomed the committee’s visit, during which members laid out the oversight role of MPs and clarified the relationship between the assemblies and Parliament.

“We met to let them know how their deliberations should be, the role of the presiding member, and we moved into the promulgation of by-laws of the assemblies, the process, its importance, and the need to have it,” Mr. Napare said.

He further stressed the legal framework governing revenue collection, pointing out that assemblies must have by-laws in place to lawfully collect funds.

“Basically, they have been authorized to collect funds. You cannot go in for money without getting some by-laws to back it. The Legislature deals with acts, while the assemblies deal with legislative instruments,” he explained.

Mr. Napare added that some assemblies have by-laws but fail to gazette them, leaving them without legal backing.

“If you get money unlawfully from someone, it’s illegal. We made them know that they have the by-laws but they do not gazette it to make it legal, because if you do not do that, you cannot deal with one who falls foul of the law,” he said.