Alban Bagbin, the Speaker of Parliament, has accused the International Monetary Fund (IMF) of putting pressure on the House to enact a number of laws under a certificate of urgency.
Mr. Bagbin mentioned measures like the Affirmative Action Bill, which is supposedly being pushed by the IMF as a requirement for the rest of Ghana’s $3 billion loan facility.
Alban Bagbin, speaking at the Speaker’s Breakfast Meeting on Monday, stressed that the House will not be forced to support the measure by the IMF.
“Even in this budget, you can see the arm of the IMF in a lot of provisions in the budget. A critical bill like the Affirmative Action Gender Equality Bill has come to Parliament under a certificate of urgency. Please, it won’t happen; we won’t pass it under a certificate of urgency.”
“There are critical stakeholders we must consult and make sure we go together. We will not be dictated by the IMF; that one, you can be assured. This is a very critical bill that the IMF should know that we need the buy-in of the stakeholders to be able to implement it,” Alban Bagbin said.
The Affirmative Action Bill, when passed into law, would seek to expunge the historically low representation of women in decision-making spaces and promote democracy and development through all-inclusive participation.
