Following a clarion call on President John Dramani Mahama by a group of women in the Volta Region to immortalize the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, a group from the Western region has thrown its weight behind the call.

Identifying itself as the Progressive Citizens of the West (P-CoW), the group has said in a statement that President Mahama is prolonging an injustice that the previous New Patriotic Party government perpetrated when it decorated all sorts of characters with national honours, but left out the one person who truly deserves such national honour.

“When President Nana Akufo-Addo used his days in office to honour everybody else including himself, but did not honour the Rt. Hon. Bagbin, he was being myopic, partisan and unfair, because if those national honours were to be meritocratic at all, the Rt. Hon. Bagbin would be the first to receive one,” the statement partly said. It added, “now that President John Mahama is in office, the responsibility has fallen on him to correct the wrong and honour the Rt. Hon. Bagbin who has contributed to fourth republican democracy more than all the people that President Akufo-Addo honoured in eight years combined.”

Consequently, the statement said it was in total agreement with the call by some women in the Volta Region that the Rt. Hon. Alban Bagbin be immortalized.

The statement was signed by Mr. Frank Mintah, Convener of the group.

It comes in the wake of a call by some respected town mothers of the Volta region, Daavi Eunice Mansah Zilevu, who is a safety officer and maritime practitioner and Daavi Gloria Mannah, for the Rt. Hon. Bagbin, who is revered as one of the most important cultivators of Ghana’s fourth republican democracy, to be honoured.

Building on longstanding calls by many other Ghanaians, the Volta women were of the view that a national decoration for Bagbin is overdue, and that President John Mahama should immortalize him as soon as possible.

According to the P-CoW, the lack of national honour for Bagbin is an indictment on the country which has given awards to all sorts of people and allowed even retrogressive and corrupt presidents to build statues for themselves.

“Specifically, under Akufo-Addo, calls for a national honour for Bagbin were ignored because the Akufo-Addo government saw Bagbin as a political opponent from the NDC.

“This being the case, President John Mhama has every reason to honour Bagbin as doing so will cure an injustice that has been driven by pettiness and political vindictiveness. If for nothing at all, Bagbin who was denied recognition by the Akufo-Addo government because he was not NPP is an NDC man, and so Mahama should also honour one of his own,” their statement said.
The Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin is the longest serving Legislator in the history of the Fourth Republic.

In a long illustrious career, he has served as both Minority and Majority Leader as well.

Incidentally, the current Speaker taught President Mahama the ropes in Parliament when Mahama first burst on the scene as the MP for Bole Bamboi in 1997.

Bagbin is also credited with having helped former President Akufo-Addo to learn the ropes in Parliament when Akufo-Addo first started politics in the Fourth Republic as MP for Akyem Abuakwah.

However, in spite of his extraordinarily long service, Bagbin has never been honoured with national recognition, even though all manner of characters have received recognition.

This omission has since been a source of unhappiness for many people, both within Ghana and outside the shores of Ghana, especially in Africa where Bagbin is revered because of his illustrious service as President of the African Parliament.

From the way things are going, the people demanding national honours for Bagbin will never let up until the government responds to their demand.