“What A Night!” Former EC Chair Charlotte Osei Reacts To The Events Ushering In Ghana’s Eighth Parliament

A lot has been happening in the parliament house in Ghana over the past 24hrs as the 7th parliament got dissolved, ushering in the 8th parliament.

In what has quiet not happened before, the two leading parties had a candidate up for the Speaker Of Parliament role, with the NPP having Professor Mike Aaron Oquaye in contention whiles the NDC also had Alban SK Bagbin.

Bagbin has been in parliament for some 28 years representing the people of Nadowli-Kaleo in the Upper West Region but decided not to contest in the 2020 parliamentary elections as he felt he had to give way whiles he makes an attempt to be president and contested in the NDC presidential primaries but lost to John Mahama.

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Hon Alban S.K Bagbin, Ghana’s next Speaker of Parliament

The house, thus, had to vote to elect a Speaker for the house in the 8th Parliament.

Bagbin did emerge victorious to lead the house and has since been sworn in as the Speaker of the 8th parliament.

It is the events that unfolded during the elections that got many people talking.

There were near fisticuffs in the house and a member could even be seen snatching some ballot papers and bolting with them.

Security had to be dispatched into the house to calm tempers and allow proceedings to continue.

The heightened atmosphere regarding the selection of the Speaker was occasioned by the fact that no one party seemed to have obtained an outright majority in parliament and so both have to submit a candidate for the role who will be elected by the house.

As many people react to the events, the Former EC Chair Charlotte Osei has been left in awe of something that has not been seen before in the country.

“What a night!” she exclaimed.

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Former EC Chair, Charlotte Osei

This is the first time in Ghana’s parliament that a member of the opposition party holds the role of Speaker of Parliament. This has generated interests in parliamentary proceedings from many Ghanaians as they wait patiently to see events unfold in parliamentary sittings and debates for the next four years.

Charlotte Osei was in charge of the Electoral Commission that saw to that election of members into the 7th parliament, and many of those members of parliament have not been retained and won’t be part of the 8th, as their constituents felt they needed change.

She was replaced by Jean Mensa who also saw to the election of members into the 8th parliament.

See Charlotte Osei’s reaction on Twitter below;

 

 

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