Parliament has refuted claims circulating on social media that the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, met with President Nana Akufo-Addo to negotiate a resolution over the recent declaration of four parliamentary seats as vacant.
The rumours follow a video suggesting that such a meeting took place after the Speaker’s ruling on October 17, 2024, in response to a call by the Minority Leader to vacate the seats of four Members of Parliament.
In a strongly worded statement, Parliament clarified that the video in question was taken on July 4, 2024, when Speaker Bagbin led a delegation to present the maiden Democracy Cup to the President, not to discuss any settlement. The statement said, “Parliament states without any equivocation that there is no iota of truth in the insinuation in the circulated video.”
The misleading video has been labelled as an attempt to distort facts and undermine the credibility of the Speaker. “The attempt to wrongly label the video and twist facts to impugn the integrity of the Rt. Hon. Speaker and Parliament is not only disingenuous but unfortunate,” the statement added.
The rumours stem from Speaker Bagbin’s ruling on October 17, which declared the seats of four MPs vacant, sparking political tension in Parliament. However, Parliament urged the public to disregard the misleading video, stating it was an “attempt to hoodwink” the public.
The statement emphasized that the Speaker has not met with the President to negotiate any settlement, and urged the public to “treat the narrative with the contempt it deserves.”
