Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, the Speaker of Parliament, visited Mickey Levy, his Israeli equivalent, in the Knesset (Parliament) in Jerusalem, Israel.
The Speaker's trip was intended to strengthen the legislative links between the two nations and foster knowledge sharing to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of each Parliament.
The meeting took place in Tel Aviv, the Israeli capital, in conjunction with a four-day international cyber security conference that the Speaker attended.
The Speaker was met by Mr. Levy on Wednesday while they conducted a private meeting to address issues of mutual value to both legislative bodies. Cyril Nsiah, the Clerk to Parliament, and the delegation were present.
Mr. Bagbin and the team were given a tour of the Israeli Parliament's history, functioning, structure, security architecture, and present 120-member House as part of the visit.
Following the closed-door meeting, the two Speakers exchanged presents. Mr. Bagbin gave his counterpart the adinkra sign known as "Gye Nyame," which denotes the understanding that God is supreme above all other beings, and Mr. Levy gave him a symbol of the Knesset.
The courteous call was made hours before the Knesset was dissolved after a measure to do so was unanimously approved to make way for the sixth election in less than four years.
The Speaker stated that the Ghanaian Parliament views the Knesset as a valuable partner in advancing the principles of democratic government.
According to him, the visit demonstrates Parliament's ongoing effort to fortifying its nascent connection with the Knesset's leadership and members.
The Speaker said, "I am pleased that our two Parliaments now have a unique opportunity for collaboration and cooperation at the bilateral level, through the exchange of experiences and benchmarking, which can be agreed to, and expressed, in a memorandum of understanding. This is in pursuit of improving standards and adapting best practises on legislative, procedural, administrative, operational, and policy tools applied in the discharge of parliamentary functions.
Following the discussion behind closed doors, Mr. Nsiah told the Ghanaian Times that an upcoming alliance between the two parliaments will significantly improve the efficacy and efficiency of both legislative bodies.
The Ghanaian Parliament would want to study and learn from the creative reforms the Knesset has undertaken, he added, calling it a valuable partner.
In accordance with goal 16 of the UN's sustainable development goals, which addresses the need for government institutions to establish and deepen democratic processes to make them accountable to the people, Mr. Nsiah claimed that these reforms would make parliament more transparent, accountable, and inclusive.
The oversight centre, the research and information centre, software to operationalize changes within parliament, among other initiatives, are among the measures he listed to increase the effectiveness of parliamentary officers.
So, Mr. Nsiah said, "There are some parliamentary administration reforms that we seek to learn from the Knesset, and they can also pick up some ideas from us as we seek to strengthen our ties and build stronger collaborations to build our capacities for effective and efficient service delivery to the Ghanaian people."
The Clerk to Parliament reported that preliminary talks for partnerships that are intended to be described in a memorandum of agreement that has to be authorised by both parties had taken place.