Politics of Friday, 12 March 2021

Source: mynewsgh.com

NPP majority have a duty to protect Bagbin from NDC insults, attacks – Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu

Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs

Members of Parliament (MPs) on both sides of the House are being admonished to protect the Speaker of Parliament, Right Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin from insults and other verbal attacks from all quarters.

“He is the third gentleman of the land so must be accorded the needed respect. If someone is attacking the speaker, we must all rise and defend him and the institution of parliament. That is what it must be,” the Majority Leader and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu pointed out on Kumasi-based Hello FM monitored by MyNewsGh.

According to him, the accusations that were levelled against the leadership of the minority caucus and the Speaker of Parliament by the National Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi, should be considered as an attack on the legislature.

“If you do something that brings disgrace to any of the senior figures in parliament, it does not bode well for the house. Someone will say it’s an internal party issue, but though the speaker is an NDC member, he no longer represents the party”, he said.

According to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) lawmaker for Suame, Mr. Sammy Gyamfi has crossed the line with his verbal abuse of the NDC MPs and the Speaker, Alban Bagbin when he said Minority MPs took bribes to approve the President’s nominees for various ministerial positions.

“He has crossed the line. From the little I have read, he is making bribery allegations against the MPs which is not true. If you look at it from that angle, he has scandalized parliament”, Hon. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu told host.

Background

Sammy Gyamfi in a strong-worded statement criticized the leadership of the minority caucus for betraying the NDC’s interest in the approval of three ministerial nominees.

“Comrades, the betrayal we have suffered in the hands of the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Bagbin, the leadership of our parliamentary group, particularly Hon. Haruna Iddrissu and Hon. Muntaka Mubarak, and dozens of our own MPs, is what strengthens me to work hard for the great NDC to regain power,” portions of his post read