Shut Up! Angry Bagbin Barks At MPs

Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin

SPEAKER OF Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin yesterday became incandescent at the behaviour of some Members of Parliament (MPs) in the chamber of the House, threatening to eject them.

Fizzing with anger, Mr. Bagbin berated MPs for drowning out his statement on the floor, amid a febrile atmosphere, saying, “You make me sick. Will you shut up! Do you rule ‘out of order’ in the House?”

He told them: “We are all mature adults. The Marshall Department, get ready. I will be compelled to get the Marshall to get people arrested and sent out [of the Chamber]. You are saying eish? Parliament is not a place for joking; it is a place for serious national business.

“The Parliament we are in has never been in Ghana, even Gold Coast. This is a different type of Parliament. We must be prepared to change and accept the decision of the people and work together,” he fired.

He continued, “Please it is not only you, Members of Parliament (MPs), who discuss national matters with me. Your Ministers, your Presidents, traditional leaders and rest, we do them together.”

“I can tell you that the country is not happy with our performance. We have to up our game. I am the person with ultimate responsibility. I reiterate that I will do so with the powers and authority that has been conferred on me by the constitution and the laws of this country. I mean what I say,” he asserted.

Speaker Bagbin contrasted the behaviour in the House, and said, “Please, be focused on what we are here to do. If you are not here and haven’t heard, ask. Don’t get jumped in, misquote people and say anything.”

Tuesday’s Sitting

He said events emanating from Tuesday’s sitting of the House occasioned the need for him to make the statement so as to provide clarity and “some perspectives on some of the issues raised on the floor.”

“As you may recall, the Hon Member of Parliament for Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam, Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, Ranking Member of the Committee on Finance, moved a motion which motion was for the House to constitute a bipartisan committee to look into the activities of the government in respect to COVID-19 expenditure,” he recounted.

“I must note that this motion was submitted to me and I admitted [the] same within the contest of Order 79(4) of the Standing Orders of the House. When the Hon Ato Forson was on his feet, in an attempt to table the motion, the Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin rose to make a preliminary objection to the tabling of the motion,” he added.

He explained that “it was at this juncture that I asked him to suspend his objection and wait for the motion to be tabled, and then he may proceed to submit his objection. Indeed, as it is apparent on the face of the record of proceedings, he sought clarification on the extent of my ruling.”

“The clarification I provided was that in my view it was improper to object to a motion that had not even been tabled in the first place. To that extent, he could only object to the motion after it had been tabled and before it had been seconded by another Member,” he stated.

Speaker Bagbin said it is his considered view that “When the notice of motion requirement of Order 78 and 78 had been complied with, [the] same must be present on the face of the Order Paper after the Speaker has a determination admissibility of the motion.”

BY Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House