Alban Bagbin the newly sworn-in Speaker of the 8th Parliament says he will use his experience gathered in Parliament to serve the interest of Ghanaians.
Mr Bagbin was elected Speaker on January 7, 2021.
He polled 138 votes as against 136 for former Speaker Professor Mike Oquaye. The election of Mr. Bagbin sent shockwaves across the aisle where NPP members of Parliament were sitting.
In his acceptance speech, he is promised to use his experience to serve Parliament and Ghanaians in general.
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"I will submit myself to the will of this house and pledge to serve my dear country and the people of Ghana faithfully to the best of my ability. I will also discharge my duty as Speaker of this parliament. I want to promise wholeheartedly to put as the disposal of this country the store of knowledge, experience and the huge data I have accumulated over the 28 years that I have been a member."
Alban Bagbin, who was the Second Deputy Speaker in the 7th Parliament was nominated by his political party –the National Democratic Congress (NDC)– for the position.
Bagbin is the longest-serving Member of Parliament as he took over the reigns of Nadowli West constituency in the Upper West Region of Ghana in 1992 till 2020.
About Alban Bagbin
Born on September 24, 1957, at Sombo in the Upper West Region, Mr. Bagbin is a graduate of the University of Ghana (1977-1980) and the Ghana School of Law (1980 -1982). He holds an Executive Masters in Governance and Leadership from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).
His parents were Mr. Sansunni Bagbin and Mrs Margaret B. Bagbin who were both peasant farmers. He is the fourth child of nine children of the Margaret Bagbin and the thirteenth of the Bagbin family.
Mr. Bagbin is married to Mrs Alice Adjua Yornas Bagbin, the Programme Officer of the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) office in Ghana.
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Education
The former Majority Leader started schooling at an early age at the Roman Catholic Primary School, Sombo, did his second cycle education at Wa Secondary School and ended at the Tamale Secondary School, where he earned his Ordinary Level and Advanced Level certificates before entering the University of Ghana in 1977.
Working Life
His working life experience took him to a number of establishments after school, and this undoubtedly enabled him to garner a lot of experiences that he brings to bear in his current political role.
From 1980 to 1982, he worked at the Bureau of Statistics and Statistical Service as the acting Secretary to the Statistical Service Board while between 1982 and 1983; he worked as Personnel Manager of the erstwhile State Hotels Corporation (Ambassador /Continental Hotels) before sojourning to Libya to teach English at the Suk Juma Secondary School, Tripoli.
When he returned from Libya in 1986, Mr. Bagbin joined the Akyem Chambers, a firm of legal practitioners, consultants and notaries public, as a partner. Between 1989 and 1992, he was appointed an external solicitor of the Credit Unions Association of Ghana (CUA), Nii Ngleshie family of James Town and a number of private business firms in Accra.
From 1993 to date, the Former Majority Leader has been a partner of the Law Trust Company, a firm of legal practitioners, consultants and notaries public.
Parliament
Bagbin has held a number of positions in Parliament since 1994 and capped his lawmaking career with the ultimate, the Majority Leader and Leader of the House.
In the first Parliament of the Fourth Republic, he was made the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Subsidiary Legislation and Vice Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Mines and Energy and Member of the Committee on Local Government and Rural Development.
From 1995 to date, Mr. Bagbin has been a member of a group known as Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) and member of the international Law and Human Rights Programme of the PGA.
From 1996 to 2001, he was appointed Chairman of the Advisory Committee on the Restructuring of the Water Sector (Ministry of Works and Housing) while between 1997 and 2001, he was a member of the National Media Commission.
In the Second Parliament of the Fourth Republic, Mr. Bagbin was the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs with oversight responsibilities for the Commission of Human Rights and Administrative Justice, Electoral Commission, National Commission on Civic Education, Office of Parliament and Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs. He was also the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee from 2001 to 2005. He was also the Vice Chairman of the Appointments Committee of Parliament.