The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has renewed calls for a permanent home for Parliament, urging the Executive to release a parcel of land near the State House for the construction of a dedicated Parliamentary complex.
Speaking at the launch of Parliament’s Corporate Strategic Plan for 2026–2030 on Thursday, February 12, Mr Bagbin expressed concern that Parliament continues to operate as a tenant within the State House, describing the situation as restrictive and inappropriate for an independent arm of government.
“We have been crying, and I hope you will support us so that at least we should be liberated from being tenants of the State House to our own premises as an arm of government,” he said, highlighting infrastructural constraints that affect parliamentary efficiency.
“There are a lot of limitations, infrastructural limitations. It has not been easy, even when we are about to make a decision, especially when there is no consensus. You have to rely on the human resources,” he added.
Mr Bagbin disclosed that Parliament is piloting an electronic voting system to streamline decision-making in the House. “Now we are trying to put in place where we can have e-voting in Parliament, so we are starting with the pilot, and we believe that it will ease all the struggles when it comes to decision-making in the House,” he said.
While acknowledging efforts to upgrade existing facilities, the Speaker maintained that the current infrastructure remains inadequate. “We have also done a lot in trying to modernise, and improve the small facilities that we have. But we plead with the Executive to release the parcel of land around here for us to develop. We need to have a permanent seat for the pillar of democracy to be housed, a Parliament House,” he stated.
He further revealed that Parliament does not have unrestricted access to some facilities within the State House complex unless payments are made. “Some of the structures we have here, we cannot even have access to them unless we pay, including the banquet hall,” he noted.
Mr Bagbin stressed that establishing a permanent Parliamentary complex would enhance the independence and operational efficiency of the Legislature as a central pillar of Ghana’s democracy.
In 2019, the then New Patriotic Party (NPP) government proposed the construction of a new Parliamentary chamber. The proposal, however, faced strong opposition from the Minority in Parliament and civil society organisations, culminating in the widely publicised #DropTheChamber protest.
