Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin
SPEAKER OF Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has issued an angry denial following claims that his children have been part of his foreign medical trips to Dubai, a city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The Speaker flew to Dubai on March 4, 2022, for another scheduled medical follow-up after he returned from UAE on January 23, 2022, for a similar exercise. The latest medical trip to Dubai is Mr. Bagbin’s third in a series since he was sworn into office as Speaker on January 7, 2021.
The Speaker’s Office, in a statement issued by the Public Affairs Directorate of Parliament, indicated that it had taken note of the publications in “both the new and traditional media with respect to the travel” and therefore wanted to set the records straight.
The statement said Mr. Bagbin did not travel to Dubai with his children as is being alleged, and that he “never included his children in any of his trips.”
It added that the travel expenses for the Speaker’s trip to Dubai are “in accordance with what is prescribed for the Speaker of Parliament long before Rt. Hon Bagbin became Speaker, and also for analogous members of government such as the President, Vice President and the Chief Justice.”
Per Diem
The Speaker’s office indicated that the media is spreading rumour, since the figures quoted as per diem are false, intimating that “the Speaker has no hand in the computation of his per diem, and it is available as part of the official records of the state.”
“It is part of the mischief that the publication is aimed at,” the statement noted and continued that “for purposes of clarity, Mr. Speaker travelled with the medical doctor in charge of Parliament Medical Centre, his spouse as carer, and two other officials of Parliament as the least in practice.”
It said there were no advance party, no children, and any other member of his entourage apart from those listed, and added, “What is intriguing is the focus on Mr. Speaker’s travel and the efforts at exaggerating the cost.”
The Speaker’s Office said “there is complete silence on the travels of other members of government, the frequency of which is far higher than that of Mr. Speaker.”
“Even within the hierarchy of Parliament, there are members of the leadership whose frequency of travel is far higher than that of Mr. Speaker. It is also on record that Rt. Hon. Bagbin, in his 14 months as Speaker, is the least travelled of all previous Speakers of Parliament within the same time frame,” the statement pinned.
It asked the public to disregard such publications, saying these are intended for political mischief.
BY Ernest Kofi Adu