Conduct of MPs despicable and will not happen again under my watch - Bagbin

Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin has described as a “despicable conduct unbecoming of MPs” the events of the morning of January 7, 2021, when the 8th Parliament of the 4th Republic held its first sitting.

Without mincing words, he took a strong exception to the conduct of the members and called on the leadership to take the necessary steps at restoring the dented image of the House, assuring that no such behavior will happen again, at least not on his watch.

"I would be remiss if I did not declare my deepest regret as a former member of this Parliament and as a citizen of this nation at the rather unruly behavior and commotion that took place on the floor of this House last Thursday including armed soldiers on the floor and the breaches of the sanctity of the vote that would otherwise attract severe punishment.

"It was, to put it mildly, despicable conduct, unbecoming of people of honor. What makes it worse is the total absence of justification or reasonable excuse. As Speaker, I would want to believe that the spectacle of that day, will not be repeated, at least not under my watch," he said.

The Speaker was addressing the second sitting of the House where he outlined the duties of both MPs and his role as leader of the House.

"The people of Ghana would like us to prioritize the needs and the concerns of the country and of all Ghanaians against our parochial interests or the narrow interests of one or the other parties. The people of Ghana are growing tired of politics as usual of seeing their elected representatives treat their political interests as though those were bigger than our common citizenship," he said.

Speaker Bagbin also finally brought settlement to the subject of which side or not will be majority and minority respectively.

The NPP caucus, in his declaration, becomes the Majority Caucus in Parliament while the NDC side remains as Minority in Parliament following that he had accepted the letter from Andrew Asiamah Amoako, independent MP for Fomena, indicating his decision to do business with the NPP, being the determinant of his decision.