John Mahama congratulates Bagbin on election as Speaker of Parliament

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Former President John Dramani Mahama has congratulated Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin for his election as the Speaker of the 8th Parliament.

The immediate past Member of Parliament for the Nadowli Kaleo defeated Speaker of the 7th Parliament, Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye in a heated election process to become the next Speaker of Parliament.

In his congratulatory message on Twitter, the Presidential Candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2020 general elections said “Congratulations Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin on your election as the Speaker of the 8th Parliament of the 4th Republic.”

Mr. Mahama also stated that the election of Alban Bagbin shows that dialogue and consensus-building will make Ghana stronger.

“The election of Speaker Bagbin affirms what a great democracy we can build for ourselves and how dialogue and consensus-building can make us even stronger as a nation.”

Mahama used the opportunity to condemn the violence that characterised the election of the Speaker.

“The events of last night stretching into the morning of 7th January have been both a great occasion for Ghana’s democracy and at the same time a day of infamy, which will go down as a low point in our democratic practice.”

He also called for an investigation into the incidents.

Mentioning particularly the invasion of the parliamentary chamber by military personnel and the snatching of ballot papers during counting by the Member of Parliament for Tema West, Carlos Ahenkorah, John Mahama said Parliament must probe the two incidents and punish persons behind them.”

“Parliament must conduct an investigation into the two incidents and exact appropriate sanctions,” Mahama said in a Twitter thread.

He accused the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government of trying to return the country to the era where military personnel had control of governance, saying that this is evidenced in the continuous use of the military in various national democratic exercises.

Mr. Mahama also congratulated Members of Parliament-elect for their commitment to making Ghana greater.

“Congratulations to the leadership of the NDC Caucus and the Caucus members for your dedication and commitment.”