The Parliamentary Service has refuted reports alleging that the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has appointed Kofi Attor to serve as the acting Speaker.
In a statement issued on Monday, the Service said such reports are misleading and, therefore, should be dismissed accordingly.
“We wish to state that Kofi Attor is a former Member of Parliament who currently works in the Speaker’s Secretariat as Senior Advisor.
“The Speaker assigns responsibility to him and staff of his Secretariat from time to time. In all these, he has never been assigned responsibility as acting Speaker, and those who caused the publication know this.
“In the instance under reference, Mr Attor was assigned to receive a message, intended for the Speaker, from a delegation of Medicine Sans Frontières, an international medical humanitarian organisation.
“That assignment cannot make him the acting Speaker of Parliament. It must be pointed out that the delegation was in Parliament primarily to meet with the leadership and the Health Committee of Parliament, which they did.
“The said publication is just one of the mischievous attempts to court public disaffection and ridicule for the Speaker and bring him into disrepute. Therefore, the public is advised to ignore the mischief that was intended”, the statement said.
Earlier, some reports said Alban Bagbin had appointed Mr. Attoh to act in his stead by receiving visitors in his absence.
According to the reports, this was part of Bagbin’s scheme to give the NDC more mileage in the conduct of Parliamentary business in the chamber.
The reports further said the Speaker ignored his First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei Owusu and the Second Deputy Speaker, Andrew Asiamah Amoako, and went ahead to allow the former NDC legislator to represent him in a meeting with an international organisation.
But the Parliamentary Service has denied the reports.
Alban Bagbin is currently in Dubai, for his routine medical check-ups.
Meanwhile, Parliament remains divided over the controversial E-levy Bill, and a ruling by the Supreme Court on Wednesday, which stated that a Deputy Speaker of Parliament can be part of the formation of quorum, and also vote, while moderating over proceedings in the House.
While the Minority have described the ruling as a ‘travesty of justice’, and an affront on the sovereignty of the Legislature, the Majority Caucus, led by its leader, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, have welcomed the decision of the Supreme Court.
Source:Fiilafmonline/JoyNews
