The Member of Parliament for Kwabre East, Hon. Kwasi Gyamfi Onyina-Acheampong, has candidly revealed that the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Bagbin, is very selective about which MPs are allowed to speak during parliamentary sessions.
Hon. Kwasi Gyamfi Onyina-Acheampong is a notable member of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) and one of the newly elected MPs in Parliament.
Speaking in an exclusive interview on Hot 93.9FM‘s political talk show ‘This Week In Parliament,’ hosted by Bonohemaa, Hon. Kwasi Onyina, who was revealing some inner workings of Parliament, explained that the Speaker exercises considerable discretion in choosing who addresses the floor.
According to the Kwabre East MP, “You can’t just raise your hand and say that because you’re an MP and you’re in the Chamber, the Speaker should allow you to speak on a motion. It’s not like that. The Speaker is very selective about who speaks. This is because some members have mastered the art of speaking fluently, so he wouldn’t want to select any ordinary person to speak. If you disgrace yourself, it affects all the members, so he wouldn’t allow just anyone to speak.”
Offering a hypothetical example to illustrate his points, the NPP stalwart remarked, “If Kwadwo Oppong Nkrumah and I raise our hands to speak, you don’t expect the Speaker to select me over Kwadwo Oppong Nkrumah.”
Watch the video below
