The former Member of Parliament
for Nadowli Kaleo and a member of the opposition National Democratic Congress,
Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin has been elected as the Speaker of the 8th
Parliament.
Mr. Bagbin, who was the Second
Deputy Speaker in the previous Parliament won the elections against his only
contender, Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye.
The opposition National
Democratic Congress (NDC) proposed Alban Bagbin as their choice candidate for
the Speaker of Parliament while the New Patriotic Party (NPP) proposed Prof.
Aaron Mike Oquaye who served as Speaker for the 7th Parliament; 2017 to 2021.
The election of Bagbin was not
without controversy as several alien incidents characterized the night
including the invasion of military personnel into the parliamentary chamber.
Earlier, the NDC Members of
Parliament, clad in white, moved to sit on the right side of the Speaker to
indicate they were in the majority which sparked serious controversy.
Later the issue of allowing the
MP-elect for Assin North, Richard Quayson to vote in the election came up
strongly as the Clerk who superintended over the voting process indicated that
he would not allow him to cast his ballot because a court injunction had been
granted to bar him from holding himself out as the MP.
That issue was resolved and the
NDC MP allowed to vote subsequently.
During counting of the ballots, the Member of Parliament for
Tema West and former Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry ran to the table and
snatched the uncounted ballots of Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye and attempted to bolt
with it.
The Chief Whip
on the NDC side and MP for Asawase, Alhaji Muntaka Mubarak immediately went
after him and secured the ballots.
About Alban Bagbin
Born on
September 24, 1957, at Sombo in the Upper West Region, Bagbin is a graduate of
the University of Ghana (1977-1980) and the Ghana School of Law (1980 -1982).
He holds an
Executive Masters in Governance and Leadership from the Ghana Institute of
Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).
The MP for
Nadowli Kaleo and former Majority Leader started schooling at an early age at
the Roman Catholic Primary School, Sombo, did his second cycle education at Wa
Secondary School and ended at the Tamale Secondary School, where he earned his
Ordinary Level and Advanced Level certificates before entering the University
of Ghana in 1977.
From 1980 to
1982, he worked at the Bureau of Statistics and Statistical Service as the acting
Secretary to the Statistical Service Board while between 1982 and 1983; he
worked as Personnel Manager of the erstwhile State Hotels Corporation.
Mr. Bagbin
practiced as private legal practitioner in the Akyem Chambers, a firm of legal
practitioners, consultants and notaries public, as a partner.
He is
currently the longest serving a member of parliament, having served since 1993
when the first parliament under the 4th Republic was inaugurated.
He has held a
number of positions in Parliament since 1994 and capped his law making career
with the ultimate, the Majority Leader and Leader of the House.
In the first
Parliament of the Fourth Republic, he was made the Chairman of the
Parliamentary Committee on Subsidiary Legislation and Vice Chairman of the Parliamentary
Committee on Mines and Energy and Member of the Committee on Local Government
and Rural Development.
In the Second
Parliament of the Fourth Republic, Mr. Bagbin was the Chairman of the
Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs with
oversight responsibilities for the Commission of Human Rights and
Administrative Justice, Electoral Commission, National Commission on Civic
Education, Office of Parliament and Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.
He was also
the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee from 2001 to 2005.
He was also
the Vice-Chairman of the Appointments Committee of Parliament.
He did not run again for Parliament in the 2020 elections.
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