The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), has welcomed the election of a member of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin as Speaker of the 8th Parliament of the 4th Republic.
The Chairperson of the Commission, Josephine Nkrumah, in an interview on Eyewitness News said this unprecedented development will strengthen consensus building among the legislators.
“The Commission is glad that for the first time in our democracy, a Speaker of Parliament has been elected from the opposition party. These are interesting times for our democracy, and we are happy to say that we will have more consensus building in Parliament, led by Alban Bagbin.”
The immediate past Member of Parliament (MP) for the Nadowli Kaleo constituency, Alban Bagbin was sworn in as Speaker of Ghana’s 8th Parliament of the 4th Republic on Thursday, January 7, 2021.
He was elected Speaker in a keenly contested election between himself and former Speaker, Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye.
Alban Bagbin was the Second Deputy Speaker in the 7th Parliament.
In his acceptance speech, Alban Bagbin pledged to discharge his duties wholeheartedly and in service to all Ghanaians.
“I will submit myself to the will of this House and pledge to serve my dear country, to serve you, and to serve all Ghanaians faithfully to the best of my ability.”
He promised to bring to the fore the wealth of experience he has gathered over the years as a parliamentarian in the discharge of his new duties as the Speaker of Parliament.
“I will also conscientiously discharge my duties as the Speaker of this Parliament. I want to promise wholeheartedly to put to the disposal of this country the store of knowledge, enough experience, and the huge data bank that I have accumulated over the 28 years that I have been a member of this House,” Alban Bagbin said.
Meanwhile, the NDC has assured Ghanaians that it will not take advantage of the election of Bagbin to frustrate President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s government.
