Alban S.K. Bagbin
SPEAKER OF Parliament, Alban S.K. Bagbin is denying personally requesting extra $50,000 for his Dubai trip after travelling with $120,000.
According to him, contrary to media publications that he requested for additional $50,000 from Parliament just a week after his lavish trip to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for medical review, at no point had he made direct cash request from Parliament.
A release issued by the Public Affairs Directorate of Parliament and signed by Director of Public Affairs, Kate Addo, on Friday, March 18, 2022, said the report carried by the DAILY GUIDE was not accurate.
The statement stated that “the Rt. Hon. has not, at any point in time, made direct cash requests from Parliament.
“The conditions of service of public employees, including political office holders, cover medical care, both local and foreign.”
According to the statement, Speaker Bagbin has not at any point even altered the areas of coverage for former and current parliamentarians and speakers, as recommended by the Presidential Commission on Emoluments.
However, DAILY GUIDE checks indicate that Speaker Bagbin, who is on his fifth trip to Dubai for medical treatment, requested additional money, not in cash but by remittance.
According to sources, less than a week after the Speaker jetted out of the country, he made a request for additional $50,000, having travelled with $120,000.
With the latest request, Mr. Bagbin would have blown $170,000 on this current trip, where he is said to be staying in a four-bedroom suite reserved for Presidents and Arabian royals.
In August last year, during his first trip for his expensive medical treatment, after carrying $150,000 to Dubai, he made additional request for $100,000, of which $90,000 was dispatched to him.
According to Bagbin, he is very mindful of the current situation. “Parliament is fully aware of the dire times we are in as a country and is mindful to avoid any profligate spending,” it stated, adding that the Eighth Parliament has sought to put the interest of the taxpayer at the fore of all its considerations and deliberations.
However, according to Parliament sources, the lavish spending by Mr. Bagbin on his Dubai trips is making him the most expensive and unproductive Speaker in the Fourth Republic, having spent $1.1million.
The Speaker spends average of $200,000 per trip.
On March 7, 2022, Mr. Bagbin in the course of defending his lavish Dubai medical trips, claimed that he is the least travelled Speaker, asking his critics to turn their attention to other members of the leadership of the House.
“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 public is advised to see in such publications the political mischief that is intended and ignore such publications with the contempt they deserve,” Speaker Bagbin said in a statement issued on his behalf.
“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. There is no advance party, no children, and certainly no other member on his entourage,” he said in his statement about his current trip.
Mr. Bagbin was billed to return on Friday but he may arrive this morning.
BY Vincent Kubi