And So What? Speaker Flares Up

Justice Joyce Adeline Bamford-Addo THE SPEAKER of Parliament, Justice Joyce Adeline Bamford-Addo is beginning to stir controversy in an attempt to assert her authority in the legislature by making comments which some Members of Parliament say are not in conformity with the rules of the House.

The first Woman Speaker of the Ghanaian Parliament who was obviously still learning the rudiments of parliamentary proceedings in the Fifth Parliament of the Fourth Republic, gave the opportunity for a Member of Parliament (MP) to make a statement last Thursday when the New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP for Atwima-Mponua, Isaac Kwame Asiamah was already on the Floor making a statement on the inauguration of President John E. A. Mills.

When the Minority side of the House alerted the Speaker that Hon. Asiamah was already on the Floor, the former Supreme Court Judge replied, “I am using my discretionary powers”.

This prompted the NPP MP for Ahafo Ano South, Stephen K. Balado Manu to remind the Speaker that “this is Parliament”, indicating that the rules of the legislature were different from those of court, which the Speaker, Justice Bamford-Addo was clearly familiar with.

She however retorted, “And so what?” leaving tongues wagging about what the posture of the new Speaker will be in the currently hung parliament.

Incidentally, no member of the parliamentary press corps reported the issue last week because everybody thought the first woman Speaker was still in the learning process and therefore should be given time to adjust to the Standing Orders of the House.

The matter nonetheless resurrected yesterday during the correction of the official report of Parliament from Wednesday January 7 to Friday January 9, 2008, when Hon. Balado Manu submitted that the Parliamentary Hansard did not capture the full records of what transpired.

According to him, the phrases “I am using my discretionary powers” and “And so what?” which were uttered by the Speaker were conspicuously missing in the Parliamentary Hansard.

“With my 12 years experience in Parliament, whatever falls out of anybody's mouth should always be captured in the Hansard,” Hon. Balado Manu reminded the House.

He stated that the Hansard was the parliamentary record of proceedings and therefore whatever occurred on the Floor of the House should be appropriately captured, which the Speaker graciously agreed to, by calling the Hansard department to make the necessary correction.

In contributing, the Majority Leader, Hon. Alban Bagbin said he did not have the record with him and that what was captured was the verbatim report of proceedings.

According to him, there was the need to cross check the official report with the verbatim recording and that if there were omissions as suggested by Hon. Balado Manu, the right thing would be done.

By Awudu Mahama & Sheilla Sackey