Alban Bagbin is the Speaker of Parliament
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has shared details about his tenure as Minority Leader, insisting that his conduct was markedly different from that of the current Minority Leader.
According to him, his leadership style was exemplary and did not resemble the approach of the current caucus leader.
Bagbin refuted suggestions that he behaved similarly in the past, stressing that he never raised his voice on the floor of Parliament to make his point.
“What the Minority Leader is doing now is not what I did. He has referred to you people several times, saying he took inspiration from my record. Please go and read my record. I never raised my voice or tried to show grandeur on the floor. No!” he said in a video shared by TV3 on Monday, November 17, 2025.
The then Minority Leader under the JA Kufuor led government [Alban Bagbin] explained that he took time to study the political atmosphere and the concerns of citizens, adding that this shaped his approach to leadership.
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Speaker Bagbin, however, admitted that he lost his composure on only one occasion — when then Speaker Peter Ala Adjetey made a personal attack on him.
“I studied the ecology, the political environment. I tested the pulse of the people, and you act in line with that. I didn’t do what you are doing. Anybody can go and read. Only on one occasion, when the Rt. Hon. Speaker Peter Adjetey came and read a statement attacking me personally, did I rise to give my side of the story, and he refused to allow me.
“My very good friend Papa Ankoma, who was the Majority Leader then, stood up and said that once he had mentioned me specifically, the standing orders gave me the right of reply. But the Speaker shouted at him, ordered him to sit down, and prevented me from responding,” he recounted.
Alban Bagbin added that although he was denied the opportunity to speak, he staged a one-man protest by walking out of the chamber, while his colleagues remained to continue the proceedings.
He said the incident gained national attention only after he spoke to the media from his office.
“That day, I took my books and headed to my office. My colleagues did not follow me; they continued with their political business. It was in my office that a few cameras, led by GTV, came to ask why I had left. I explained that if this was how the Speaker intended to conduct the House, I would respond in kind. That caught the attention of the whole nation,” he said.
He concluded by saying that the episode is documented in the official records and that claims equating his conduct with that of the current Minority Leader are unfounded.
“That is the only instance. Later, when I met him [Adjetey] and explained that he had accused me without basis, they pleaded with me to tone down my response, which made no sense. I am saying this because many people have repeatedly claimed that I behaved the same way when I was Minority Leader. If I had, we could have turned things around within two years, and we almost won the 2004 elections.”
MAG/MA
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