Majority Leader and Member of Parliament for Builsa North, James Agalga, has urged parliamentary committee leaders to strengthen consensus-building, accountability and efficiency in their work to improve parliamentary governance.
He said effective committee leadership was essential to ensuring that government business, policy proposals and executive requests received thorough scrutiny before decisions were taken by Parliament.
Mr Agalga made the remarks at the 2026 Parliamentary Committees Leadership Programme, organised by the Parliamentary Training Institute under the theme, “Enhancing Committee Leadership for Effective Parliamentary Governance.”
The programme brought together the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, Deputy Speakers, the Minority Leader, committee chairpersons and vice-chairpersons, as well as ranking and deputy ranking members.
In his address, the Majority Leader identified three key areas he considered critical to effective parliamentary committee leadership.
Mr Agalga described parliamentary committees as the engine room of the House, explaining that they played a central role in examining government business, policy proposals and executive requests before they were presented for decisions.
He said strong leadership at the committee level was therefore necessary to ensure thorough examination and informed parliamentary decisions.
The Majority Leader also stressed that a parliamentary majority had a responsibility to lead while remaining open to other perspectives.
According to him, having a majority in Parliament should not be interpreted as the right to disregard differing opinions.
He maintained that Parliament’s credibility was strengthened when diverse views were given fair consideration and consensus was pursued where possible.
“Consensus-building is not abandoning principle. It is maturity. It is dialogue, compromise and collective responsibility,” he said.
Mr Agalga further reminded committee leaders that citizens expected Parliament to deliver responsive legislation, ensure accountability and contribute to practical solutions to the country’s development challenges.
He said meeting those expectations required diligence, preparation, discipline and commitment from all committee leaders.
He urged participants to apply the knowledge and lessons gained from the programme to improve committee operations, promote constructive deliberations and produce timely, well-informed recommendations.
The Majority Leader expressed appreciation to the Parliamentary Training Institute for organising the programme, noting that despite political differences, members of Parliament shared a common responsibility to serve Ghana.
