That Parliament, The Eighth Parliament

The eighth Parliament of the fourth Republic was inaugurated on the 7th of January, 2021 to replace the 7th Parliament.

The seventh Parliament was somehow ‘unknown’ to many Ghanaians as there were no newsworthy controversies or events.

The New Patriotic Party had an overwhelming majority and also had its own senior member of the Party, Rev Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye elected unopposed as the Speaker of the House. Professor Mike Oquaye was the first deputy Speaker in the sixth Parliament when Rt Hon Doe Adjaho was the Speaker. The National Democratic Congress was also the party in the majority.

The current Speaker, Rt Hon Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin was also elected an unknown second deputy Speaker position.

The current first deputy Speaker, Hon Joseph Osei Owusu was also elected the first deputy Speaker of that Parliament.

The only catchy event was when the then Speaker received a letter from the New Patriotic Party to expel one of its own, Hon Andrew Asiamah, MP for Fomena in the Ashanti Region from the House because he had filed to contest the 2020 Parliamentary Elections as an independent candidate.

The then Speaker interpreted the Standing Orders of the House as the basis for his action.

Ironically, Speaker Oquaye lost his bid to be reelected as the Speaker for the second term in the current Parliament.

He lost to the current Speaker, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin.

Then Hon Andrew Asiamah by divine intervention was elected as the second deputy Speaker of the eighth Parliament of the fourth Republic.

Now to the current Parliament, the eighth Parliament, as stated, was inaugurated with the election of Rt Hon Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin a distinguished legislator, (longest serving in the fourth Republic),a former Minister of State, a former attempted flag bearer, a former  Majority leader, a former Minority leader, and a lawyer was given the nod to head the House as the Speaker.

His election was historic because, for the first time, a known opposition member was surprisingly elected as the third most powerful person in our country, Constitutional creation.

There was a drama leading to his election.

Both the New Patriotic Party and its opponents, the National Democratic Congress had 137- 137 equal seats in the Another history made by the voters.

The NPP won the heart of the only independent Member of the House, Hon Andrew Asiamah to their side.

This increased its strength in the House to 138 to be the party in Majority.

After the dramatic election, which saw the Tema West MP, Hon Carlos Ahenkorah on the ticket of NPP being punched by his counterpart from the NDC, who was also its Chief Whip, Hon Muntaka Mubarak, MP from Asawase.

The Tema West MP was accused of snatching the ballot papers for the election of the Speaker.

The tension was high especially when some military men invaded the chamber of Parliament.

The NDC minority never gave up of their determination to elect their own as the Speaker.

After all the circus, Alban Bagbin’s election was upheld and he was sworn in by the then Chief Justice, His Lordship, Justice Annin Yeboah as the seventh Speaker of Parliament of the longest Republic of our country, the fourth Republic.

Ghanaians from all walks of life condemned the MPs and the Military for what transpired on the floor of the House.

Many Ghanaians also prophesized or predicted that the eighth Parliament could be a rowdy one looking at the numbers and the nuances that led to the election of the Speaker.

The next negative specter of the Eighth Parliament was the passage of the E- levy taxation. The Speaker was away and the first deputy Speaker presided.

He was given the green light by the Supreme Court to cast his vote as a Member of the House.

The NDC declined even when the apex Court of our land affirmed that the first deputy Speaker could cast his vote.

Pandemonium broke out in the House as our ‘Honourable’ MPs turned the chamber into a boxing arena. It was a free-for-all fight which led to some legislators sustaining serious injuries.

It was an eyesaw, Disgusting and Dishonorable.

The 275 members received castigations and insults, and all the bad adjectives were used on them.

During the maiden budget period, we also saw a similar childish encounter or incident with our elected representatives.

End of part 1

By Osmanu Ahmed Halid