Code of conduct for MPs

Majority Leader Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin told members on the floor of Parliament yesterday that the code was crucial for MPs “to know what is legal, ethical and appropriate.” It is aimed at providing Parliament with an acceptable conduct of MPs.

The code comes in the wake of an atrocious statement by Mr. Nelson Abudu Baani, Member of Parliament (MP) for Daboya/Makarigu, who said recently that adulterous wives ought to be stoned to death or hanged.

The Majority Leader said the code has been drawn up with experiences from the codes of conduct of the USA House of Representatives, New Hampshire Manual, Ethiopia, Australia, Angola, and background studies by the World Bank.

The Parliament of Ghana has no standard code for its members, but in recent times, the behaviour of some members has become a source of concern to the general public.

According to Mr. Bagbin, the code of conduct under construction “provides the opportunity to tell what to expect of honourable members of the legislature.”

In his contribution, Papa Owusu Ankomah, Member of Parliament for Sekondi, who spoke on behalf of the Minority, said the new code of conduct has been designed to be a guide.

“In adopting the code, the House will adopt a grand principle,” he told his colleagues.