Behind the Scenes of
African Parliaments:
Transparency in the Making

The halls are quiet, the buildings often imposing. In most African capitals, parliaments remain distant places both geographically and politically, cut off from the daily concerns of those they are supposed to represent.

But behind the heavy wooden doors and beneath the ornate ceilings, a quieter revolution is taking shape.
In Morocco, Côte d’Ivoire, and Ghana, lawmakers, civil servants, and civil society actors are testing new ways of doing politics, bringing the public into legislative processes that were, for decades, conducted out of sight. These are not sweeping overhauls or viral reforms. Instead, they are measured, procedural, and sometimes invisible from the outside. But they matter.

At the heart of this shift is the Open Government Partnership (OGP), a global initiative that promotes transparency and public participation. Since its creation in 2011, OGP has pushed governments to adopt reforms that bring state institutions closer to their citizens. But in these three African nations, it’s the parliaments, often slower to change than executive branches, that are now leading the charge.

Morocco: Streaming Democracy to the Streets

In a modest office in Rabat, just off the wide sweep of Avenue Mohammed V, a parliamentary advisor speaks cautiously but with resolve. He has worked behind the scenes on Morocco’s OGP commitments since 2019, pushing for what he calls “a culture of democratic clarity.”

“Our democracy needs more than ballots,” he says. “It needs visibility. It needs comprehension.”

The changes, while not flashy, are significant: parliamentary sessions are now live streamed on YouTube. Committee reports are published online. A digital portal lets citizens review and comment on draft laws, or even submit their own proposals.

None of this would have been possible without Law 31.13, passed in 2018, which enshrined the right to access public information. The law was a prerequisite for Morocco’s OGP entry, but its effects have gone far beyond bureaucracy.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a small internal task force, nicknamed la khaliya, crafted educational content to explain how Parliament works. They used comic strips and short videos to make legislative processes more relatable, focusing on women members of parliament (MPs) and rural communities.

Workshops followed, reaching far-flung regions with sessions on migration, climate change, and human rights. “If we want young people to vote,” the advisor says, “they have to see themselves in these institutions.”

With few resources but growing confidence, Morocco’s Parliament is learning a new language, one spoken in code, comments, and conversation.

Côte d’Ivoire: Rewriting the Social Contract

In Abidjan, the air in Parliament feels different. There’s a sense of motion.

Here, Paulin Kouassi, the head of the Parliamentary Commission for Public Policy Evaluation, doesn’t mince words. “This wasn’t a top-down decision,” he says of the country’s openness plan. “It was negotiated between MPs, citizens, NGOs. That’s how democracy should work.”

Côte d’Ivoire’s open parliamentary plan focuses on four pillars: legal frameworks, communication, citizen participation, and training for MPs. One of the key tools under development is a public-facing digital portal that will allow citizens to weigh in before laws are passed. Special attention is being paid to the groups most often left out: rural populations, youth, and women.

Kouassi sees the process as a continuation of local governance models. “We’re borrowing from municipalities’ bottom-up governance. People tell us what matters, and we respond. That’s the shift.”

Evaluation is central to the plan. “You can’t govern in the dark anymore,” Kouassi says. “That kind of governance is outdated. But evaluation is expensive, and it requires expertise.”

To that end, his commission has invited international experts and academics to help build a culture of policy assessment, a move that sets Côte d’Ivoire apart from many of its regional peers.

Ghana: Building Trust One Conversation at a Time

In Ghana, the conversation around parliamentary openness is less about visibility and more about credibility.

“If we want to hold the executive accountable, we have to be transparent ourselves,” says Emmanuel Bedzrah, a seasoned MP involved in Ghana’s OGP work.

The country’s journey toward legislative transparency has been shaped by long grassroots battles, most notably the campaign that led to the 2019 Right to Information Act, after more than a decade of civil society pressure. Since then, Parliament has taken steps to digitize its functions: live streams, interactive debate trackers, and outreach campaigns aimed at students and rural voters.

One key innovation is the Citizens Bureau, a liaison office that helps process petitions and ensure follow-up. During designated “Parliament Weeks,” MPs travel to their constituencies for direct dialogue with voters. “They shouldn’t always have to come to Accra,” Bedzrah says. “Sometimes, we need to go to them.”

But the process is fragile. “Five of our members lost their seats in the last election,” he adds. “We’re just fifteen now. That’s the danger of depending on individuals. What we need is institutional commitment.”

The Bigger Picture: A Democracy that Listens

The efforts unfolding in these three countries are not without obstacles. Budget constraints, political instability, and bureaucratic inertia all weigh heavily. But the signs are promising.

What links Rabat, Abidjan, and Accra is a shared recognition: that democracy is not only about laws, but about access. And that parliaments must be more than legislative machines; they must become civic arenas, where citizens feel seen, heard, and understood. This vision gained momentum on 26 June 2025, when Members of Parliament from Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, Ghana, and Morocco came together in Abidjan to adopt the Abidjan Initiative — a regional declaration marking a new phase for parliamentary openness in Africa and the Middle East.

None of this makes headlines. There are no viral videos or sweeping victories. Just a slow, deliberate reimagining of how power meets the people.

Across Africa, the pace of change varies. The pathways are uneven. But something is moving. And if it continues, it could redraw the boundaries of democratic space, one legislative reform, one public hearing, one young citizen at a time.