Former Member of Parliament, Kofi Amoah, has called on successive governments to improve the planning of their legislative business to reduce the frequency with which Parliament is recalled from recess.
He said government should align its legislative programme with Parliament’s approved sitting calendar rather than waiting until MPs have returned to their constituencies before requesting them to reconvene.
Mr Amoah argued that repeated recalls not only disrupt parliamentary work but also impose additional costs on the taxpayer.
Speaking on The Big Issue on Saturday, August 29, he said government could avoid unnecessary expenditure by properly scheduling bills, nominations and other parliamentary business within the House’s regular sitting periods.
He noted that MPs often return to their constituencies after scheduled sittings to engage with constituents, participate in community activities and undertake other responsibilities.
Recalling them shortly afterwards, he said, interrupts those engagements and requires additional public resources to facilitate their return to Parliament.
“And so for current and future government, I think that we should not be doing too many of those recalls. It doesn’t help anybody,” he said.
Mr Amoah also criticised the practice of recalling Parliament to deal with a limited number of issues before the House is subsequently dissolved or adjourned.
He proposed that government departments and agencies coordinate their parliamentary business more effectively so that several matters can be presented together during scheduled sittings.
According to him, such an approach would allow Parliament to make better use of its time while reducing avoidable expenditure associated with repeated recalls.
His comments come amid the latest recall of Parliament, which has coincided with controversy surrounding the vetting of three nominees for appointment to the Supreme Court.
The Minority in Parliament has boycotted the vetting process after raising concerns about the timetable set for the exercise.
The Minority argues that the process has been unnecessarily rushed and has questioned the urgency of the appointments, particularly on the grounds that there is currently no vacancy on the Supreme Court bench.
The disagreement has added to broader concerns about the scheduling of parliamentary business and the manner in which government requests recalls during periods when MPs are expected to be on recess.
Mr Amoah’s intervention therefore puts the focus on the need for a more coordinated legislative calendar, with governments encouraged to anticipate parliamentary business and make use of scheduled sittings rather than repeatedly bringing lawmakers back from their constituencies.
He maintained that better planning would not only improve parliamentary efficiency but also help protect public funds from avoidable expenditure.
