News:
First Deputy Speaker
December 9, 2021
The First Deputy Speaker of Parliament Joseph Osei Owusu has stated that, the Rt. Hon Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin does not interfere in his job whenever he is presiding over Parliamentary proceedings as a Speaker.
He said, the Rt. Hon Speaker has absolute confidence in him in discharge of his mandate as a Speaker and does not instruct neither does he direct him in any way as to how to handle issues on floor.
Mr. Osei- Owusu did accept that, the Rt. Hon Speaker of Parliament, Bagbin has a special way of correcting him, should he go wrong during proceedings, same as the first Deputy Speaker can correct the Rt. Hon Speaker, whenever he also get it wrong during proceedings.
He made this known in an interview and justified his comments that he is not “the Speaker”, which had generated some controversies on the floor of the House when, the minority leader, Haruna Iddrisu questioned his legitimacy for allowing himself to be counted among MPs when the issues of quorum arose during the approval of the 2022 annual budget estimate.
Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com