Professor Elijah Yendaw, a Professor of Public Policy and Governance at the SDD University of Business and Integrated Development Studies (SDD-UBIDS), says Mr Alban S. K. Bagbin is the best bid for the Speaker of the Ninth Parliament to support the incoming Mahama-led government fight corruption.
He said Mr Bagbin’s leadership principles of probity, accountability and transparency coupled with his boldness aligned with Mr Mahama’s vision and desire to fight corruption, offer Ghanaians better governance and write a history for himself, his family, and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) party.
“Considering the fact that Mr John Mahama, the President-elect, is all out with all sincerity to fight corruption…one of the key pillars that can actually support him to deal with corruption in this country is by retaining Mr Alban Bagbin, the Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament.
If we don’t take time, our fight to recover all loots, which many professors, many academics, many administrators across the country’s higher education institutions fought for to ensure that the NDC and John Mahama return to the Flagstaff House, will be a mirage,” Prof. Yendaw indicated.
Prof. Yendaw, the Vice Dean of the Faculty of Public Policy and Governance at the SDD-UBIDS, said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Wa.
That was in relation to the need for the incoming Mahama-led administration to put the right people in key positions to support him achieve his goal of fighting corruption in Ghana.
He indicated that considering the position of a Speaker of Parliament as key in putting the Judiciary and Executive arms of government in check, it required a strict and experienced individual who abhorred corruption.
Prof. Yendaw, also the Director, Centre of Migration, Security, and International Relations at the SDD-UBIDS, observed that Speaker Bagbin’s ability to successfully “navigate the complex terrain” of a hung parliament was a testament to his competence to managing the parliament to contribute to reducing corruption to the barest minimum.
“This is the kind of leader that we want, so that we can block leakages, protect the public purse, and then have enough resources to bring about sustainable development, build prosperity, and give hope to the teeming young persons who are unemployed in this country,” he said.
The Professor also indicated that maintaining Mr Bagbin as Speaker of Parliament would enable him to share his experience in parliamentary affairs with other developing African parliaments as well as tap into the best practices of those parliaments to improve Ghana’s parliament.
Prof. Yendaw, the Upper West Regional Coordinator of Progressive Intellectuals (PI), an NDC-affiliate group of University Lecturers and Administrators, posited that the NDC would honour Mr Bagbin with the Speakership position in recognition of his contributions to the party’s fortunes in the 2024 general elections.
“Retaining Speaker Bagbin is not a choice, it is something that we just need to do to honour him for his selfless contribution to the democratic dispensation of this country and by extension to ensuring that the NDC wrestled the power from the NPP,” he explained.
