Speaker Bagbin replies Martin Amidu and denies meeting Akufo-Addo in Dubai

The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin has denied meeting President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in Dubai as alleged by Martin Amidu in an article.

Mr Amidu had alleged that Speaker Bagbin met the "President [Akufo-Addo] in Dubai in before he [Speaker] returned to Parliament to turn a closed eye to his own determination that rejected the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of Government?"

In a press statement dated May 28, 2024, signed and issued by Peter Bamfo, who is the Head of the Speaker's Communication Unit, Speaker Bagbin explained that has taken notice of a malicious and false publication in the media attributed to Mr. Martin Amidu.

What did Amidu write?

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Mr Amidu had stated in his article that "Asiedu Nketiah and John Mahama, did your self-confessed ... 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 ad Economic Policy of Government?"

"Did you not see, observe, and read the reaction and excitement amongst your Minority Leader and his team after meeting the President on 20 May 2024. Does it lie in your mouth to insinuate that as a constitutional activist I should not recognize Nana Akufo-Addo who beat your John Mahama at the 2020 elections as the President of Ghana? I defend the 1992 Constitution and I cannot dispute the will of the people at Presidential elections conducted under it, notwithstanding my personal views.   

"The NDC cannot wish that because the NDC created and empowered Anas Aremayaw Anas as a covert Government agent after the 2008 elections when his law partner at Cromwell Gray LLP is appointed the Special Prosecutor in 2021 by the NDC’s adversary, the constitution and laws of Ghana should be suspended until the NDC assumes office in 2025 to take advantage of the relationship between Anas Aremeyaw Anas and his partner to boast that Kissi Agyebeng their political hatchet man and executioner was an  appointee of the 
NPP. "

Attached below is a copy of the reaction from the Speaker's office

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. Amid 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.