Bagbin: The longest serving MP and his timely rise to Speaker of Parliament
In a every Ghanaian traditional home setting, the eldest child in the house is shouldered with a lot responsibilities as the mature one with the most experience amongst the kids .
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Same cannot be said about the legislative arm of government which has representatives from all 275 constituencies in Ghana.
Unlike the proverbial home setting where kids grow to a certain age before moving out, parliamentarians come and go, but some have remained in the house longer than others, and this makes them the go to persons for newbies and even some equally experienced ones on legislative issues.
One of such longest serving members of parliament is the current speaker of Ghana's parliament.
Born on September 24, 1957, many have known Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin as one of the longest serving members of parliament who has represented his people since the beginning of the first republic in 1992.
Never did he stand for an election in his constituency at the primaries level and lose.
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Road to becoming Nadowli-Kaleo MP
It is known that he is a learned lawyer who had his feet cut out for him before politics came into the picture.
Law helped him find his feet in parliament as his law experience well equipped him to represent his people and cause the change he wanted to see on the basis of law.
Before politics, he happened to be the only lawyer from his side of the country who was resident and practicing in Accra.
His experience in Accra on how the system works, easily helped him delve into the political field.
His first attempt at becoming a politician to represent his people in parliament was when the PNDC was transitioning into NDC under the leadership of the late former president, Jerry John Rawlings.
Due to his law background, he was part of a legal team to ensure there was a smooth transition into constitutional rule.
Prior to that, he had taken up leadership positions at the University of Ghana where he had the opportunity to serve and work with some members of parliament.
Nadowli-Kaleo MP
Under the tutelage and guidance of Professor Sam Garbah and some of his university colleagues who were already in the system, the then 35-year-old Bagbin reluctantly contested for the seat of Nadowli-Kaleo and won.
Against reasonable doubts of being a first timer in the law culmination process, Bagbin entered parliament with zeal and the quest to represent his people well.
During the first parliament in the fourth republic, Bagbin in an interview with TV3 once mentioned that it was not a bed of roses to be in parliament between 1992 and 1996.
"'There was nothing like salaries, conditions of service, and ex-gratia payments, as they were more or less like the sacrificial lambs to structure the fourth republic, "he said in the interview.
Unfortunately, some MPs who did not have a tough skin could not stand the heat in the system as they left worse off than they came in.
In the first parliament of the fourth republic, he was made the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Subsidiary Legislation and Vice Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Mines and Energy, and Member of the Committee on Local Government and Rural Development.
As if to say God was preparing him for something great, he was made the second deputy speaker of parliament in 2017 in the seventh parliament of the fourth republic.
He served well in his best capacity.
As there is always a time to play and a time to retire, Bagbin decided not to contest for the Nadowli-Kaleo seat he had been occupying for the past 28 years.
When party primaries were held he rather chose to contest the flagbearership of the NDC ahead of the 2020 elections, but unfortunately for him, he and several others lost to the flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama.
Speaker of 8th Parliament of the 4th Republic
Even though he was the longest serving MP in parliament, becoming the speaker of parliament did not come easy.
It was hinted that Bagbin would be tipped as NDC's nomination for the position of speaker of parliament.
After the dissolution of parliament which saw a lot of drama ensuing on the floor of parliament on January 6, 2021, both nominees from both sides of the house stood for an election.
It was a closely monitored and tensed election as the incumbent speaker, Professor Aaron Mike Ocquaye lost the election to the longest serving member of parliament, Alban Bagbin.
During the counting of his ballots, MP for Tema West, Carlos Kingsley Ahenkorah wanted to sabotage him by snatching the ballot paper.
Vigilance, sense of patriotism and duty on the part of Asawaase MP, Muntaka Mubarak led to Alban Kinsford Sumana Bagbin been declared as the speaker of parliament.
His experience and dedication to his call of duty is one members from both sides of parliament have praised.
There is no doubt he will stir the affairs of the 8th parliament to a fault.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
