By Rachel Quartey
Ghana will for the second time host the Extraordinary Session of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament at Winneba in September 2023. The Leader of Ghana’s Delegation to the ECOWAS Parliament, Mr. Alexander Afenyo-Markin, announced this to the media after a joint delocalized meeting in Monrovia, Liberia.
The move, he says, forms part of the sub-regional integration process to bring governance to the doorsteps of the People.
According to Mr. Afenyo-Markin, Ghana’s Delegation to the ECOWAS Parliament raised a case during the just-ended joint delocalized meeting that it’s high time international conferences are hosted out of the capital as members do not often get the opportunity to travel outside the capital city. He explained, “this is to bring governance to the doorsteps of the very people we govern, and create the opportunity for the region by way of putting it on the visibility map to create a positive opportunity for development.”
Mr. Afenyo-Markin, who is also the Deputy Majority Leader in Ghana’s Parliament, remarked that he has no doubt that International programmes of such nature create opportunities for development, and Winneba, being the capital of one of the Municipalities in the Central Region of Ghana, is more than ready to welcome the ECOWAS delegation.
“Taking the Conference there, the Session there, with all the international participants, will market the region, the Constituency, and the city, which is a coastal city, for greater opportunities.”
He asserts that when a country hosts such programme, Government is compelled to upgrade facilities, and when the conference is over, these facilities become the property of the people for other use.
“I will advise my colleagues to take advantage and plan with their governments. We cannot always overconcentrate in the capital cities; we need to move out and spread opportunity to the people,” he said.
The Leader assured all participants from member states of the best experience when they come to Winneba this September.
“We are optimistic that this will be better than before. The Ghanaian government will put in place the necessary protocols for all MPs, focal persons, and staffs, security arrangements will be in place,” Mr. Afenyo-Markin added.
