The National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, has subtly warned the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, not to stay clear from issues affecting the fortunes of the opposition party, even though he is supposed to be Speaker for all Ghanaians.
To him, though Speaker Bagbin had been tagged as belonging to both the Majority and Minority in Parliament, he (Bagbin) should remember that NDC is in his blood. According to Ofosu-Ampofo, the party helped nurture the Speaker from his first time as a Member of Parliament (MP) to his current position.
“I believe that though your position places you above partisanship, NDC is in your DNA and we cannot disengage you from the party that has nurtured you from being an MP to the position of Speaker,” he reminded Bagbin.
Mr. Bagbin, since assumption of office, has created good relationships with the NDC and New Patriotic Party MPs to ensure orderliness. “Mr. Speaker, for the past three months you have been described by the NDC as an NPP Speaker, at one time the NPP has described you as an NDC Speaker.
“But, Mr. Speaker, you have maintained the position that you are the Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament, and I believe that the various descriptions give credence to the fact that you will be capable of standing in the middle and steer the affairs of this Parliament to a successful end.
“We will continue to offer our prayers and support to you, and pray to the Almighty God that at this critical stage of our national development, you will rise above partisanship and put Ghana first, so that we can all address the socio-economic challenges facing our country. We will eliminate hunger, poverty, disease and bring prosperity to all of us,” Ofosu-Ampofo said at a Thanksgiving Service held at Sombo, hometown of Speaker Bagbin, in the Upper West Region last Thursday.
Mr Bagbin has, on his part, said the legislative House was opened to criticisms, and that Ghanaians should feel free to criticise them, but was quick to state that before criticising, the citizenry must first understand the issues at hand.
“Criticism is good, so feel free to criticise when the need arises, but do so by first seeking to understand the issues at stake, and the development in relation to them, this is because what meets the eyes is but the superficial and not the reality. I am confident all Ghanaians will continue to exercise the proverbial tolerance and patience as we journey along on this uncharted path that the current Parliament of Ghana represents,” he said.
He charged Ghanaians to always criticise constructively after understanding the benefits and repercussions attached to certain decisions taken by the lawmakers that seem not to be pleasant to the Ghanaian populace.
Assuring Ghanaians about his commitment to the August House, Alban Bagbin said he was committed to ensuring that Ghana’s Parliament was up to task in the execution of its mandate.
According to the former Member of Parliament for Nadowli Kaleo, he was aware of the aspirations and expectations of Ghanaians on political conducts and governance and the emerging challenges that Ghanaians expect the leadership of Parliament to find lasting solutions to.
“I’m aware of the aspirations and the expectations of the people of Ghana, with respect to political conduct and governance. I am conscious of the dictates of the current and emerging issues that leadership must find solution to on behalf of the citizenry.
“Problems of inequality, ethnicity, unemployment, debt overhang, a raging health pandemic that has become the new norm, the state of deprivation, instability in the sub-region, global problem of the isolationism, civil strife, discrimination, migration among others, these all continue to confront us as a people. I can only assure that the parliament of Ghana under my leadership will not shirk its responsibility when it comes to these issues. What we will want from Ghanaians is patience and understanding,” Speaker Bagbin stated.
From Musah Umar Farouq, Sombo
The post Don’t forget, NDC is in your DNA -Ampofo appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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