‘Shameful character and disgrace to his seat’ Presidential aide ‘whips’ Bagbin

Speaker Bagbin accused of abandoning his post

Rant associated with failure of Parliament to pass E-levy Bill

Charles Nii Teiko Tagoe, Executive Assistant and Head of Social Media at the Office of the President, recently passed a harsh verdict on the person and the job done so far by Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin.

According to him, events leading to the failure of Parliament to pass the controversial E-levy bill into law showed that the Speaker had exhibited shameful character and shirked his core responsibility.

A December 22 Facebook post on his handle read: “Not only has he become a shameful character but also a disgrace to the seat he occupies. #WhereIsBagbin.”

The post was accompanied by a photo of a smiling Bagbin with the caption: “Bagbin has neglected his job as Speaker. #WhereIsBagbin”

A full house of 275 Members of Parliament was present for the December 20, 2021 session meant to consider the Bill after the Finance Committee voted 13 – 12 to pass it for consideration at the plenary.

Bagbin who presided over the day’s session retired after a long day, meaning an NPP MP in the person of Joseph Osei-Owusu had to preside, which situation means the count of MPs will be 137 – 137 and in which case a vote will be lost.

When First Deputy Speaker Joseph Osei-Owusu vacated his seat for the Second Deputy, ostensibly to enable him vote on the bill, Minority MPs moved to prevent that from happening, leading ti violent scuffles around the seat of the Speaker.

The House subsequently adjourned to January 2022 without passing the Bill.

The majority in Parliament serially accused Bagbin of abandoning his seat whn it was time for the vote but Bagbin has explained at a public forum that he left the house after properly handing over to his First Deputy after undue delay on presenting the bill by the Majority.