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The Chief Executive Officer of State Transport Corporation (STC), Nana Akomea has replied the Minority on the withdrawal of Military bodyguards for the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin.

Over the weekend, news on the withdrawal of military protection for the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon Alban S.K. Bagbin went viral.

Hitherto, the Speaker had four military personnel attached to his protection outfit.

The officers, WO1 Jafaru Bunwura, WOII Apugiba Awine David, S/Sgt Agbley Prosper and Sgt. Bonney Prince had been serving the Bagbin’s office since he became Speaker in January 2021.

A letter dated 11th January, 2022, cited by Peacefmonline and signed by Major General Nicholas Peter Andoh, the Chief of Staff at the General Headquarters of GAF, ordered the four soldiers to return to base by January 14, 2022; saying they were "attached to the Office of the Right Honourable Speaker of Parliament without the proper procedure."

“It is humbly requested that the personnel are withdrawn with effect from 14 January 2022 while efforts are made to regularise their attachment,” the letter further said.

Alban Bagbin Voices His Sentiments 

But the Rt. Hon Bagbin described the action as "untenable".

A statement issued by his Office questioned the withdrawal saying the action "hints at the possibility of a plot to place the safety and security of the Speaker in harm's way."

To him, this is a "bad precedent" and "detracts from the political gains that Ghana has made", and further warned that "if it is an attempt to gag the Speaker, this move will serve to only widen the gap between the legislature and the other arms of government".

Minority's argument

A couple of days later, the NDC Members of Parliament (MPs) led by the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddirisu joined the fray saying the decision to withdraw these soldiers is "politically motivated".

The Minority, in a statement, said they are ''saddened and strongly denounce the withdrawal by President Akufo-Addo’s government of the military detail attached to the office of the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon Alban Bagbin with effect from the 14th January, 2022. It is pertinent to note that the only reason given for the shameful withdrawal of Mr Speaker’s security detail is that the attachment was done without following the proper procedure''.

''Curiously, the government fails and/ or omits to spell out the procedure for the attachment of military personnel to high profile personalities such as the speaker of Parliament.

If the action of the military high command is in good faith, the irregularity in relation to the attachment could be rectified without necessarily having to withdraw the personnel...the minority is certain that the action of the military high command relative to the withdrawal of Mr Speaker’s security detail is politically motivated and calculated to diminish his confidence in his bid to impartially and independently steer the affairs of the legislative arm of government'', they added.

Akomea Fires NDC Minority

Contributing to a panel discussion on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo'' Tuesday morning, Nana Akomea held that the Minority's defence for the Speaker is an insult on the latter's reputation.

He was bewildered by the opposition's statement that the action is politically motivated.

''If you remove these 4 Military officers from the Speaker's security detail, can't the Speaker speak or think again? I can't fathom where this politics is coming from. It's even an insult to Bagbin to say, because of the removal of the soldiers, he will be afraid of doing dutifully his work. It's even an insult to Bagbin'', he told Nana Yaw Kesseh.

He further wondered how the withdrawal of the Military protection will pump fear into the Speaker or affect his security in any way.

''...That we have withdrawn four Military officers and he still has 12 Police officers, how is that going to reduce Alban Bagbin's confidence?'' he questioned.