Members of the Parliamentary Press Corps (PPC) have undergone a two-day capacity-building workshop on Public Financial Management (PFM) reporting aimed at strengthening their ability to effectively report on national budgets, fiscal policies and parliamentary oversight.
The training, organised by the Parliament of Ghana with support from the World Bank and the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, sought to equip parliamentary reporters with deeper knowledge of Ghana’s public financial management framework and enhance their understanding of government spending processes.
Addressing participants, Director of Media Relations at Parliament, David Sebastian Damoah, underscored the importance of the training in strengthening the work of journalists who cover Parliament.
According to him, the Parliamentary Press Corps plays a crucial role in bridging the gap between Parliament and the Ghanaian public, making it essential for reporters to understand complex financial issues and translate them into accurate and meaningful stories for citizens.
He explained that parliamentary reporting should not be limited to proceedings in the Chamber but must extend to critical national processes such as budget scrutiny, fiscal oversight and public financial management.
Mr. Damoah therefore encouraged members of the Press Corps to take advantage of the training to improve the depth and accuracy of their reporting on financial governance.
As part of the workshop, a former Director at the Ministry of Finance (Ghana), Eva Mends, delivered a presentation on the dynamics of fiscal management and the trade-offs involved in government spending.
She noted that a better understanding of these issues would enable journalists to report more effectively on economic policies and help the public appreciate the challenges associated with balancing public expenditure with macroeconomic stability.
The workshop forms part of broader efforts by Parliament and its partners to strengthen the media’s capacity to interpret fiscal data and improve public discourse on economic governance.
At the end of the programme, members of the Parliamentary Press Corps are expected to be better equipped with the analytical tools required to critically assess government spending and provide the public with clearer, more informed reporting on national financial matters.