Folks, Kyei Mensah Bonsu has proven to be shamelessly dishonest. In any case, not even my three-year-old son who sleepily watched the events of the early hours of January 7th, 2020 in the Parliament of the Republic of Ghana in relation to the election of a Speaker, his two deputies, and the swearing-in of MPs-elect, will believe Kyei.
Truth is that after many hours of standoffs because the NPP side he leads had refused as he instructed, to abide by the law dictated and practice-driven protocol of secret voting or if you like, secret ballot, he and his team reluctantly agreed to do what is right.
Thereupon, we voted all 275 of us. The ballot box was opened and the ballots sorted. There was one spoilt ballot after sorting in accordance with the number of Candidates: Prof. Mike Oquaye number 1 and Alban Sumana Bagbin number 2. The votes for Prof. Oquaye counted were 136.
It was after this that we in the NDC started jubilating because the outcome was obvious, that our Father and nominee, Hon. Bagbin had won. Clearly, with only one spoilt ballot, common maths showed that Bagbin obtained 138 votes. For those not good at maths, 275 minus 1+136=137. When 137 is subtracted from 275 the answer is 138.
The same Kyei Mensah then had a short chat with Hon. Carlos Ahenkorah, and after Kyei Mensah pulled an NPP MP-elect at the counting table, Carlos Ahenkorah snatched ballot papers from a Clarke and bolted. Carlos Ahenkorah was apprehended.
Leadership then went into conclave and returned to confirm that Bagbin was indeed the Victor. And the process continued with the swearing-in of Speaker Bagbin. When MPS-ELECT got sworn in, the next was the approval of the 1st and 2nd deputy speakers of Parliament. For these positions we did not cast ballots, we agreed.
Hon. Kyei Mensah Bonsu, the now minority leader, should stop being arrogant. Truly, if he and his team had a choice, will they make the Rt Hon. Alban Sumana Bagbin the Speaker of Parliament?
Hon. Rt. Hon. Sumana Bagbin was duly elected as the Speaker of the 8th Parliament of the Republic of Ghana. This was in spite of all the plots, schemes, and shenanigans of Mr Akufo-Addo as deployed by his henchmen after a meeting on the night of January 6th and the early hours of January 7th.
In fact, a number of Akufo-Addo henchmen were spotted in Parliament ostensibly to oversee the execution of their plots to ensure that Prof. Mike Oquaye was elected Speaker.
Mind you, as confirmed in the programme of the President-elect on January 7th, Prof. Mike Oquaye was named as the Speaker of Parliament.
So, the shameless claim that Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Bagbin was not elected, is a feeble attempt to save face after all the plots and schemes by the cabal failed due to the determined effort of the NDC MPS-ELECT.
I remain a citizen!
Dr. Clement Apaak M.P for Builsa-South