‘Parliament and You’ - Investing in Ghana’s most valuable asset

Last Tuesday, Parliament House witnessed a moment that should matter to every Ghanaian who cares about the future of our democracy.

Parliament, through its Public Engagements Department, partnered with Junior Graphic of the Graphic Communications Group Ltd to launch “Parliament and You” - a new educational series designed to bring parliamentary education directly to young citizens across the country. (See story on the front page)

The launch drew the full weight of the House’s leadership: First Deputy Speaker Bernard Ahiafor, Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga, Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin, and the Clerk-to-Parliament Ebenezer Ahumah Djietror.  

Their presence was a signal that this is not another ceremonial launch. It is a deliberate investment in civic education, run with the theme, “Promoting Parliamentary Education Among the Young”. That investment is long overdue.

Mr Ahiafor was right to describe young people as “one of our most valued national assets”. Parliament is the central institution of Ghana’s democracy.

It is where the voice of the people is represented, where laws are made, and where government is held accountable. 

But the strength and sustainability of that institution do not rest only on those who serve in it today.

It rests on how well we prepare the next generation to understand, appreciate, and defend its work.

Too often, Parliament has felt distant, complex, and inaccessible to the average citizen - and even more so to children. 

The result is a dangerous gap: citizens who grow up unfamiliar with how laws are made, how their representatives are held to account, and how they themselves can engage meaningfully with democratic institutions.

That gap breeds apathy, misinformation and cynicism. It also makes democracy fragile. 

“Parliament and You” is a practical response to that gap.

Through Junior Graphic, Parliament will literally walk into classrooms, sit at breakfast tables, and travel on school buses every Wednesday.

As Minority Leader Afenyo-Markin put it, Parliament will “find its way into the homes of children across Ghana”.

The series promises to make the powers, functions, and procedures of Parliament familiar, relatable, and enjoyable for young readers.

This initiative goes beyond producing child-friendly content. It aligns with a growing global recognition that children should not be treated merely as recipients of policy.

They are stakeholders whose voices, ideas, and perspectives must shape the decisions that affect their future.

The Clerk-to-Parliament noted that while the Public Engagements Department has long run public education programmes, community outreaches, and town hall meetings, children have remained underserved. “Parliament and You” corrects that imbalance. 

A generation that understands parliamentary democracy is more likely to demand accountability, reject populism, and protect democratic institutions when they are challenged. Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga captured it well: we must build “an edifice of citizens who will defend Parliament and democracy any day it is challenged”.

That edifice is not built overnight.

It is built lesson by lesson, story by story, in classrooms and living rooms, through content that makes complex ideas simple without making them shallow.

Civic education is not a one-off project. For “Parliament and You” to succeed, it must be funded, evaluated, and expanded beyond Accra to rural schools, TVET institutions, and underserved communities.

It must also evolve - using radio, digital platforms, and interactive formats to meet children where they are.

Parliament, for its part, must treat this as more than a public relations exercise.

It must open its doors further: more school visits, more “shadow MPs”, more opportunities for young people to observe debates and ask questions.

Transparency cannot stop at publishing Hansard.

It must include inviting the next generation into the process.

Ghana’s democracy has been tested before, and it has endured.

But democracy is never inherited; it is learned and re-learned by each generation.

If we fail to teach our children how Parliament works, we cannot be surprised when they disengage, distrust, or destroy what they do not understand.

“Parliament and You” is therefore more than an educational series.

It is preventive maintenance for our democracy.

It is an acknowledgement that laws and procedures mean little if citizens cannot read, understand, and use them.

The Junior Graphic hits the newsstands every Wednesday; we urge parents, teachers, and school heads to embrace the series.

Let children read it, discuss it, and question it.

Let Parliament welcome that curiosity. Investing in young people’s understanding of governance is investing in the country’s stability, progress and future.

Parliament has taken the first step. Now the rest of us must take the next one.