His security has recently been 'downgraded' by the government
Minority and Majority split over the downgrade
Speaker of ParliamentAlban Bagbin is back in the United Arab Emirates seeking medical attention, Member of Parliament for Banda and Deputy Minority Chief Whip, Ahmed Ibrahim has disclosed.
According to him, Bagbin was safe despite the recent uproar around the withdrawal of four soldiers who had been deployed since a year ago to be part of his security detail.
“I want to assure Ghanaians that their Speaker is still safe, Bagbin is safe and he is in Dubai for medical treatment, very soon he will come.
“When he comes whatever arrangement we need to put in place, we will put in place. As of today, we the leadership (of the Minority) are going to meet over the matter,” the Banda MP stated on Accra-based Okay FM on Monday, January 17, 2022.
In other comments related to the withdrawal of the soldiers as contained in a letter written to the Speaker’s office by the Chief of Defence Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces, Ahmed chastised the withdrawal citing how other civil servants below Bagbin’s stature were beneficiaries of military protection.
“Is Archbishop Duncan Williams a Minister? He has six soldiers at his residence,” the MP alleged.
Asked by the show host about the source of his information, he responded: “Kwame, we are part of the arms of governance and we have information on wherever soldiers are deployed."
Other officials he mentioned and the corresponding number of military deployments are as follows:
* Jean Mensa, Chairperson of the Electoral Commission – 10 soldiers
* EC deputies – 5 soldiers each
* Kissi Agyebeng, Special Prosecutor – 11 soldiers
* 18 Supreme Court Justices – 4 soldiers each deployed to their residences
“So you are telling me that the Speaker of Parliament does not merit the security that the EC chair and deputies, Duncan-Williams and Supreme Court justices have? Because Kan-Dapaah has four (soldiers) the Speaker does not merit the same? Kwame, where are we going?” He quizzed.
“I am asking that the deployed soldiers be withdrawn from all these officials, the argument that Kan-Dapaah has six soldiers but Speaker doesn’t deserve four is my gripe,” Ahmed Ibrahim stressed.
Bagbin was away in the UAE for the better part of December 2021 seeking medical treatment. He presided over a purported rejection of the 2022 budget before leaving the country.
In his absence, there was a purported rescission of the rejection and subsequent purported approval of the budget amid chaotic scenes on the floor of Parliament.
