The government has accepted a proposal to place a constitutional cap on the size of Ghana’s Parliament, limiting the total number of Members of Parliament (MPs) to 300.
Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine, announced the proposal while presenting government’s White Paper on the recommendations of the Constitutional Review Committee on Thursday, July 30.
The proposed reform is part of measures aimed at strengthening Ghana’s democratic institutions, improving governance and making Parliament more inclusive.
Dr. Ayine explained that the current constituency-based electoral system will be maintained, with an additional proportional representation component introduced to increase the participation of groups that have historically been underrepresented in Parliament.
Under the proposal, 276 MPs will continue to be elected through the existing constituency elections, while the remaining 24 seats will be allocated through a proportional representation system.
The additional seats will be reserved for groups including women, persons with disabilities (PWDs) and young people.
“The government has accepted that the size of Parliament be capped and we propose a ceiling of 300 members. The current membership of Parliament is 276 and so these will be elected directly in constituency elections like we already have, and the remaining 24 will be elected or selected through proportional representation among women, persons with disabilities and the youth,” he said.
The Attorney-General disclosed that an independent study will be commissioned to determine the structure and implementation of the proportional representation component.
He said the proposed cap would help reduce the cost of running Parliament while creating opportunities for broader representation.
“Capping Parliament saves cost and the reserve element opens the doors of our legislature wider to those that our politics have historically kept outside,” Dr. Ayine stated.
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