Calls for MPs to ride bicycles instead of cars unfounded — Speaker Bagbin
The Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Kingsford Sumana Bagbin has dismissed suggestions that Members of Parliament (MPs) should use bicycles to Parliament instead of vehicles.
Some Ghanaians, including senior citizens, have argued that providing bicycles to lawmakers could reduce government expenditure.
They cited examples from countries like the United Kingdom, where some Prime Ministers have been seen riding bicycles.
However, speaking at the Speaker’s Public Lecture on Tuesday, March 3, Mr. Bagbin said such comparisons overlook the realities of Ghanaian governance and infrastructure.
“We’re hearing some of our senior citizens on TV talking about MPs being given bicycles, not cars or four-wheel drives. MPs have no problem with being given bicycles, because you have been reducing a lot of load from their heads. But it’s because of this missing link between Parliament, the MPs, and our citizens that informs these calls,” he explained.
He added that adopting foreign practices without considering local circumstances could be counterproductive.
“I’m a Ghanaian and I’m asked to behave and act like a British, people get everything wrong. That is why we have degraded ourselves to the extent that we don’t have much value for people to buy, and so we keep on buying what they have, not what we have,” Speaker Bagbin said.
He emphasised that parliamentary operations and lawmaking responsibilities require practical transport solutions that suit Ghana’s unique context, rather than symbolic gestures borrowed from other countries.