Opposition becomes Ghana’s new Speaker as Akufo-Addo takes second oath as president
London, Jan. 7, 2021 (AltAfrica)-President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has been sworn in as President of the 4th Republic of Ghana on January 7, 2020.
Akufo-Addo will be leading the country without his former speaker, Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye but new a one, former Member of Parliament (MP) for Nadowli Kaleo Constituency and Second Deputy Speaker of the 7th Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, who has been elected Speaker for the 8th Parliament of the Fourth Republic.
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Bagbin is a member of the main opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and had represented the Nadowli Kaleo Constituency in the Upper West Region in Parliament seven consecutive times.
President Akufo-Addo who has been re-elected for a second term took the oath of office at a colorful ceremony in Parliament.
“I Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo do in the name of the almighty swear that I’ll bear true faith and allegiance. I’ll uphold, protect, preserve the sovereignty of Ghana,” he stated while being sworn in by Chief justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo promised to work with the newly-elected Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban Bagbin, of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), to advance the peace, progress and prosperity of the Ghanaian people.
In his inaugural address shortly after taking the oath of office for his second term as President on Thursday, 7 December 2020, Nana Akufo-Addo congratulated Mr Bagbin, who had been his colleague lawmaker for years, on his elevation to the position of Speaker.
Nana Akufo-Addo said: “I must, at the outset, express my warm congratulations to my good friend and colleague of many years in this House, the Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, on his assumption of office as the Speaker of the Eighth Parliament of the 4th Republic”.
“Nearly three decades of devoted service to Parliament by you has culminated in this moment, which has seen your elevation to the third great office of state of our nation”.
“Together, you and I will be chartering new territory in the governance and politics of the 4th Republic, for this is the first time in the life of this Republic that a President from one party will be obliged, by the exigencies of the moment and the will of the people, to work, in all sincerity and co-operation, with a Speaker of Parliament from another party.”
Nana Akufo-Addo expressed confidence that “both of us will be guided in our relationship by the supreme interest of our people in ensuring good governance in the ordering of the affairs of state.”
“I want to assure you of my wholehearted determination to work with you to advance the peace, progress and prosperity of the Ghanaian people. Once again, many congratulations to you and the re-elected and new Members of Parliament,” the President added.
The event attracted several heads of states including the President of Guinea, Alpha Conde, Umaro Sissoco Embaló, President of Guinea Bissau, Angola’s Vice President, Bornito de Sousa, Senegalese President Macky Sall among others.
Akufo-Addo on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) beat the National Democratic Congress (NDC’s) John Dramani Mahama in the 2020 Presidential polls held on December 7.
The verdict has since been contested by Mr. Mahama who argues that the party’s overwhelming evidence available makes it impossible for them to accept the results although some domestic and international observers have said the election was free and fair
