There has been a raging controversy over whether the long time MP for Nadowli-Kaleo, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin was elected or selected as the Speaker of the 8th Parliament of the 4th Republic of Ghana. The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo started the debate when a day after his inauguration, he made a remark in Kumasi that Hon. Bagbin was selected as the speaker by a consensus. This claim was thereafter reechoed by the MP for Suame and NPP/Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu in various media interviews. He restated that point earlier today (Thursday) during an interaction with the Parliamentary Press Corps. But what are the real facts? I am a member of parliament for keta and I witnessed every event that took place from the night of Wednesday 6th January to the morning of Thursday, 7th January 2021.
- The Clerk.
The Clerk who chaired the meeting of the newly elected MPs indicated that the only business they could transact was the election of a speaker. He then invited nominations from the members. - Haruna Iddrisu
MP elect for Tamale South and NDC/Minority Leader, proposed Alban Bagbin as the Speaker. This nomination was seconded by MP for Asawase/NDC Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mubarak. - Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu
MP for Suame and NPP Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu proposed Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye as speaker. This nomination was seconded by MP for Efutu and NPP Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin. - The Clerk
The Clerk said in view of the fact that there were more than one nominations, they had to proceed with an election by secret balloting. - Election
Voting took place. After voting, the ballot box was opened and ballots were sorted. Ballots for Prof. Oquaye were piled at one side and those for Alban Bagbin were also piled at one side. One ballot was isolated as rejected. - Counting.
The ballots piled for Prof. Oquaye were counted and they totalled 136 . Just as the ballots for Alban Bagbin were about to be counted, NPP MP for Tema West Carlos Ahenkorah snatched a bunch of the ballots belonging to Bagbin and run away. He was chased and some ballots retrieved from him but he destroyed (chewed) two of the ballots. Counting of Bagbin’s ballots could not continue. - Conclave
Due to the incident, leaders of both sides together with the Clerk went into a conclave (meeting). On their return, the Clerk announced that Bagbin was elected Speaker and Bagbin was duly sworn in by the Chief Justice. - Commentary.
At the conclave, Bagbin votes which were counted amounted to 136 but as indicated earlier, Carlos destroyed two Bagbin ballots. It is also logical that if there were 275 votes, Oquaye had 136, 1 is rejected, the remaining (138) rightfully belonged to Bagbin. - Conclusion
The conclusion is that ASK Bagbin was duly elected and not selected by any consensus. This is corroborated by the fact that, the Clerk did not announce on the floor that Prof. Oquaye withdrew from the race. Again, Mr. Kyei- Mensah- Bonsu who nominated Prof. Oquaye did not also withdraw his nomination. Therefore, per the official records of events on the floor, there were two nominations and after secret balloting, Bagbin was duly elected Speaker. That remains the incontrovertible fact.
