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Bagbin Back As Leader

By Daily Guide
Politics Bagbin Back As Leader
OCT 2, 2014 LISTEN

Alban S.K. Bagbin
Former Majority Leader, Alban S.K. Bagbin, officially took over as the new Majority Leader of Parliament at a special sitting of the House yesterday.

He had held executive positions such as Minister of Health and Minister of Water Resources Works and Housing.

Mr Alban Bagbin, who is the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for Nadowli/Kaleo in the Upper West Region,  took over from Dr Benjamin Kunbuor, NDC MP for Nandom and now the Defence Minister.

Bagbin automatically takes charge of government business in Parliament.

He was the Minority Leader of Parliament at the time the New Patriotic Party (NPP) was in power and became the Majority Leader when his party, NDC, won power in 2008.

Mr Bagbin, who has been an MP since the inception of the Fourth Republic in 1993, stirred controversy in the current Parliament when he was alleged to have said at a workshop in Koforidua, the Eastern regional capital, that MPs take bribe in their line of duty.

Speaker of Parliament, Edward Doe Adjaho, in welcoming Bagbin back to his former position, said parliamentarians who get executive positions must always know that they are first and foremost Members of Parliament and that when they get executive positions, they should not do anything or say anything to mar the image of the institution.

The Minority Leader, Osei-Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, said he was happy that Bagbin was coming back to his former position after being re-cycled for a while.

“I have known Hon Bagbin for a long time in this House and also worked with him as leaders of this House. I have no doubt that he is coming with vast experience that will help improve the work of Parliament and that of parliamentarians,” the Minority Leader expressed.

He urged Mr Alban Bagbin to justify the confidence reposed in him as the new Leader of the House and fight for the right of Parliament wherever he goes.

In his response, Mr Bagbin said Parliament indeed represents democracy and that it was time Parliament as an institution, got to the electorate or members of the public for them to be educated on the role of the House in democracy.

He promised to offer dedicated and strong leadership to ensure that Parliament takes its rightful place in governance.

Meanwhile, Mr Doe Adjaho has directed that leadership of the House invites the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Health to come and brief Parliament on why government should make the country the UN centre for Ebola control.

The NPP MP for Manhyia South, Dr Matthew Opoku-Prempeh, who raised that issue yesterday and was supported by the NDC MP for Tamale South, Haruna Iddrisu, said the decision by the government has implications for the country and that as representatives of the people of Ghana, MPs must be briefed on what necessitated government's decision on that.

Sitting will continue today with the consideration of a report of the Appointments Committee.

By Thomas Fosu Jnr
 

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