Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, under the circumstance is the best person from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to head the House of Parliament as its Speaker under a Nana Akufo-Addo presidency.
Indeed, the former veteran NDC Member of Parliament (MP) for Nadowli/Kaleo is true green NDC through-and-through.
However, if this nation must have a Speaker from the opposition party who can be expected to not duly and unnecessarily frustrate the work of the Government, then Hon. Alban Bagbin is that man.
He has maturity. He has experience and he does not dislike President Akufo-Addo.
In fact, the two gentlemen have always enjoyed mutual respect for each other and had just retired from active politics, even though he owes his nomination from his party the NDC.
Ghanaians would not expect Speaker Alban Bagbin to go against the national interest simply to satisfy a John Dramani Mahama agenda.
He can be his own man and Ghanaians would rest assured that this pledge to serve the nation with honesty would be fulfilled to the letter.
To serve a nation also means supporting the party elected party to implement the manifesto platform upon which it campaigned and was given the mandate of the people.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) remains the Majority in Parliament to drive the agenda of the Executive and requires the full and professional corporation of the Speaker.
However, the jury is still out but it cannot be as gloomy as some may fear. It will all be good for Ghana. For that is the ultimate interest.
Alban Kingsford Sumani Bagbin was born on 24 September 1957. He hails from Sombo, Upper West Region of Ghana.
He was educated at Wa Secondary School and Tamale Secondary School. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Law and English at the University of Ghana in 1980. He proceeded to the Ghana School of Law at Makola in Accra after which he was called to the bar in 1982.
Hon. Bagbin also earned an Executive Masters in Governance and Leadership from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).
After law school, he worked in the private sector as an attorney, rising to become a partner in the Akyem Chambers, a law firm of legal practitioners, consultants and notaries public.
Mr. Alban Bagbin is a member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC). He was first elected into Parliament during the 1992 Ghanaian General Elections.
He represented the Nadowli West Constituency in the Upper West Region. Bagbin announced his intentions to run for president in 2008 on the NDC ticket, but he never stood for the primaries. He became the Majority Leader in the Ghanaian parliament in 2009.
Following a cabinet reshuffle in January 2010, he was appointed Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing by President Mills.
He was also the Majority Leader of Parliament under President Mahama’s tenure of office and succeeded Benjamin Kunbuor, who was appointed as the Minister of Defense. He also served as the Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament from January 2017 to January 2021.
