‘Enough is enough; don’t counter what I say again’ – Bagbin warns Majority Leader

The Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Bagbin has issued a stern warning to the Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu against making public pronouncements which counter decisions he makes on the floor of Parliament.

This follows accusations by the Majority Leader that the Speaker is impatient after revelations that Parliament is broke.

The Speaker on the floor of the House on Thursday, May 26, 2022, lamented the dire financial constraints Parliament has been plunged into and cautioned the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, against treating Parliament like a Ministry or a District Assembly.

Those comments by the Speaker have drawn sharp reactions from the Majority frontbench with the Leader and Majority Chief Whip, Frank Annor-Dompreh saying a little restraint from the Speaker would have been better.

At a media briefing on Friday, May 27, 2022, the Nsawam Adoagyiri MP, revealed that the outstanding allocation to the Parliament had been released.

But the Speaker hasn’t taken those public pronouncements lightly and warned the Majority Leader against future attempts to counter his comment.

“…It is important that when the Speaker speaks from the chair, the Leader of the House that is the Leader of the Members of Parliament (Majority Leader) is not seen to be the one countering what the Spokesperson of the Arm of Government (Speaker) says. If they want us to give documentary evidence about the non-funding of the House for this year we’ll provide them. So when I heard that the Leader of the House had gone on air to say that what I said is not true, it saddens me. In response to what I said yesterday, the government proceeded to quickly release money yesterday to the House for the House to function. There’s evidence to that and that is on record.”

“I will not take the Majority Leader always going on air to counter what I say particularly when I say it on the Chair. I will not take that, I am in control here and I will continue to be in control until my term of office ends or you decide otherwise as Members to remove me as the Speaker of the House by the votes of three-quarters of the Members of the House. Please, this is the last time I will refer to it and this is enough notice to whoever thinks that he has the same authority as the Speaker. I will take this in a conclave when the House convenes Tuesday, we’ll discuss it as Leaders in a pre-sitting meeting before we sit on Tuesday. Enough is enough.”