Mike Ocquaye is Ghana’s worst Speaker of Parliament ever – Avedzi asserts
Former Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Mike Ocquaye
Deputy Minority Leader, James Klutse Avedzi, has labelled Professor Aaron Mike Ocquaye, as the country’s worst ever Speaker of Parliament.
Read full articleAccording to him, the former Speaker of Parliament did not allow the minority side of the House to be expressing themselves in debates on the floor.
In an interview with Accra-based Joy News on September 4, he suggested that under the Speakership of Professor Mike Ocquaye, the adage of ‘minority will have its say and the majority will have its way’ lost its essence.
The Ketu North Member of Parliament however said the minority caucus is now able to participate in debates since the inception of the 8th Parliament and under the leadership of Alban Bagbin.
“This particular Parliament, I think that the numbers that we have is helping and the benefit is not coming to NDC, it is coming to the whole country. If you compare this current Parliament…the 8th Parliament and the 7th Parliament, you will see that the majority in the current Parliament is now allowing some debates to flow on the floor.
“They are allowing debate to flow on the floor. In the previous Parliament, because of their numbers, they will not even allow you to talk and under the Speakership of Mike Ocquaye…I one time said that he is the worst Speaker we have ever had because there is this saying that in our type of democracy, ‘minority must be given the power to speak and the majority have their way’. But this Speaker will not even allow the Minority to speak. But currently, we say anything that we want to say…nobody to prevent,” he said.
James Klutse Avedzi was quick to add that the minority was enjoying participation in debates not because the current Speaker, Alban Bagbin, was from the NDC side.
He stated that the hung nature of the current Parliament was solely the reason for his caucus to be more involved in Parliamentary business on the floor.
“No that is not the case. Because of the numbers, the majority know that they have only a difference of one and most of the time their ministers don’t come to Parliament,” he added.
Professor Mike Ocquaye lost his Speakership reelection bid to Alban Bagbin on January 7, 2020. It is the first time in the country’s political history that a Speaker is not a member of the governing party.
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