A prominent member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Gabby Otchere-Darko, has described Speaker of Parliament Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin a “Humpty-Dumpty”.
This remark follows Bagbin’s controversial decision to declare four parliamentary seats vacant, which Otchere-Darko argues misinterprets the constitutional provisions concerning cross-carpeting and party loyalty.
On October 17, 2024, Speaker Bagbin announced the vacancies following a motion put forth by former Minority Leader Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson.
The MPs affected by this ruling include Peter Yaw Kwakye Ackah (NDC MP for Amenfi Central), Andrew Amoako Asiamah (Independent MP for Fomena), Kojo Asante (NPP MP for Suhum), and Cynthia Mamle Morrison (NPP MP for Agona West).
The Speaker’s decision was based on the MPs’ choices to run in the December 7, 2024, general elections as independent candidates or under a different party than the one on which they were initially elected.
Bagbin stated that this action breached Article 97(g) and (h) of the 1992 Constitution, aimed at curbing defections and ensuring party loyalty within Parliament.
In his remarks, Otchere-Darko criticized this interpretation, alleging that the Speaker is using the Constitution for political gain.
He stated, “According to Ghana’s Speaker of Parliament, an MP has no constitutional right to take steps with the intention to change party affiliation, even if only for a future contest, without losing her seat.”
He further lambasted Bagbin’s reasoning as a “serpentine bypass of cerebral discord.”
He contended that the Speaker’s ruling undermines the original intentions of the Constitution’s framers.
“If it is too late for a by-election, then she can no longer continue to represent the party by which she came to Parliament even if, per her own actions in the House.
“She has shown no intention to cross the carpet for the duration of the Parliament for which she has been duly elected to serve her constituents and in a Chamber that, per its Standing Orders, one is either with the Majority or Minority.
“The curious reasoning of Alban Bagbin, Esq. He has managed with this serpentine bypass of cerebral discord managed to turn upside down the intentions of the framers of the Constitution and, by so doing, to rather resurrect the very mischief that Article 97 (1)(g) & (h) sought to cure.
“Call it the comedy of the Bagbinian doctrine of what should be made reasonable. All hail Emperor Alban Humpty-Dumpty Bagbin!” he added.