“if we wanted to hold the President to ransom, the Speaker would not have been allowed to appear for the President’s swearing-in ceremony," says Ningo-Prampram Member of Parliament, Sam George.
Hon Alban Sumana Bagbin was sworn-in as Speaker of the 8th Parliament of the 4th Republic of Ghana on Thursday, January 7, 2021, after some chaotic scenes and the thinking of some is that he will be used by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to make things difficult for the President Akufo-Addo in his second term.
However, Sam George says the NDC side in Parliament will put the nation first and not use Speaker Alban Bagbin to frustrate the efforts of the ruling government and that if they had that in mind, "we would have just asked the First Deputy Speaker, Joe Osei Owusu to replace him. We are not that kind of party.”
Speaking in an interview on Citi Eyewitness News, he said: “We have shown our interest in safeguarding the democracy of the country...We heard the Speaker himself say that he is going to discharge his duties without fear or favour. He never showed bias while Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament. Ghanaians can rest assured that under no circumstances will we bring in partisan bias into the working of the House.”