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Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament Alban Bagbin has commended his Ugandan counterpart, Anita Among, for her positive influence in supporting African values and traditions.

He said this during a bilateral meeting with Among at Munyonyo Commonwealth Resort Hotel in Kampala, where the three-day 27th Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC) will be held starting today, January 3, 2024.

A statement from the Ugandan Parliament said on Tuesday that Bagbin also said international collaboration among Parliaments in the world should be based on mutual respect for different people’s value systems and not blackmail and intimidation.

On her part, Among urged African Parliaments to work in unison to advance the continent. 

“Recognising the shared challenges and opportunities that bind African nations, she highlighted the imperative for Parliaments across the continent to work hand in hand,” the statement said.

On March 21, 2023, Parliament, which was presided over by Among, unanimously passed the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, 2023 which spells out tough penalties for same-sex relationships.

President Yoweri Museveni signed the Bill into law on May 26, 2023, but it has since been challenged in the Constitutional Court.

CSPOC was created in 1969 as an initiative of the then Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada, Lucien Lamoureux, and its membership is restricted to the Speakers and Presiding Officers of national parliaments of all independent sovereign states of the Commonwealth. It consists of 22 bicameral parliaments and 30 unicameral parliaments.

The chairperson of the co-ordination committee and Bugweri County MP Abdu Katuntu, said Parliament of Uganda will foster co-operation with other parliaments, which will create alliances and, in the end, strengthen diplomatic ties with those countries.