The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin has denied claims by Martin Amidu that the Speaker met President Akufo-Addo in Dubai in 2021 before Parliament rejected the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of Government.
Martin Amidu in his latest epistles alleges that the NDC and Joy FM are exposing him to public judgement mentioned that the Speaker of Parliament is corrupt and went to Dubai to meet President Akufo-Addo before coming back home to reject the 2022 budget.
“Asiedu Nketiah and John Mahama, did your self-confessed corrupt Speaker of Parliament not meet the President in Dubai in 2021 before he returned to Parliament to turn a closed eye to his own determination that rejected the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of Government?”
That prompted a reaction from the Speaker of Parliament Martin Amidu must apologize for trying to tarnish his image.
A statement signed by Peter Bamfo, Head of the Speaker’s Communication Unit said Alban Bagbin has a “long record of distinguished and honest public service to the Republic of Ghana and will continue, at all times, to put the interest of the Ghanaian people first.”
The statement denied the allegation, saying it is a “palpable falsehood” and demanded that Martin Amidu withdraws “his statements and apologise unreservedly to the Speaker of Parliament and indeed the Parliament of Ghana”
According to the statement, a failure to do so would “leave the Rt. Hon. Speaker to no other option than to take all steps necessary within his rights to vindicate his name.”
Read the statement by the Speaker of Parliament.
SETTING THE RECORDS STRAIGHT: MARTIN AMIDU’S FALSE CLAIMS AGAINST SPEAKER BAGBIN
The Office of the Speaker of Parliament has taken notice of a malicious and false publication in the media attributed to Mr. Martin Amidu.
The said publication is false, baseless and unfounded, and should be treated with the contempt it deserves.
Mr Amidu’s claim in the publications that the Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliament Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin had secretly met with His Excellency the President in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, is a palpable falsehood.
This falsehood is part of ongoing deliberate and calculated attempts by some persons to attempt to tarnish the reputation of the Speaker of Parliament. Such attempts have not succeeded and this recent one by none other than Mr. Amidu would not succeed.
Rt. Hon Speaker Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin has a long record of distinguished and honest public service to the Republic of Ghana and will continue, at all times, to put the interest of the Ghanaian people first.
The Rt Hon Speaker will not be deterred from carrying out his public service duties, guiding and providing leadership for Parliament even in the face of insinuations, unprovoked attacks and unfounded allegations like Mr. Amidu’s.
Mr. Martin Amidu must appreciate that the decisions taken on the floor of parliament is an extension of the voices of the citizens by the legislators who represent them distinctively.
The Speaker of Parliament, unlike the Deputy Speakers, has no vote in Parliament and therefore does not take part in the decisions of the House. This is clearly stated in the 1992 Constitution and affirmed by decisions of the Supreme Court of Ghana.
To re-state, it is false, malicious and a fabrication by Mr. Martin Amidu that the Speaker of Parliament had secretly met with the President before the rejection of the 2021 Budget. The Speaker has not met the President in Dubai or anywhere else outside the Republic of Ghana.
The Rt. Hon, Speaker requests Mr. Amidu to do the honourable thing and withdraw his statements and apologise unreservedly to the Speaker of Parliament and indeed the Parliament of Ghana, with the same prominence as he made the false and malicious statements, within seven days from the date of the release of this rejoinder.
The failure of Mr. Amidu to adhere to this request would leave the Rt. Hon. Speaker to no other option than to take all steps necessary within his rights to vindicate his name.
Peter Bamfo
(Head-Speaker’s Communications Unit)
PARLIAMENT OF GHANA