Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, was the beneficiary of a heartfelt invocation of blessings by a group of orphans over the weekend in Tema.
Gloria Doamekpor and Victoria Kudo who are wards of the Catholic Action for Street Children Orphanage at Adjei Kojo invoked the special blessings on the Speaker when he celebrated his 65th birthday there.
“We are also thankful to the Speaker of Parliament for remembering us and coming to donate all the things that he brought to us,” the orphans said.
To celebrate the birthday, the Speaker had chosen to spend time with the orphans and visited them with donations including food, drinks and toiletries.
Rt. Hon. Bagbin had also donated a cash amount of GHC5,000 to the orphanage as part of his widow’s mite.
But it was not only food, drinks and toiletries that the Speaker had blessed the orphans with – he had also given them words of inspiration to lift up their spirits and propel them to look towards the future with hope in spite of their humble circumstances.
Hon. Bagbin told them God had purposes for their lives and that with time, the purpose will unfold.
Using himself as example, he revealed that when he was a young student at the Wa Secondary School, he was so quiet that later when he went into politics his mates were shocked.
But because politics was something that God had purposed for his life, he sailed through the ranks – first being elected as MP for Nadowli-Kaleo in 1992, becoming Minority Leader in 2001 and then later becoming Majority Leader in 2009.
In 2017, he said, he became Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament and then in 2021, he was elected Speaker.
In 2022, Rt. Hon. Bagbin was also elected Speaker of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association as well.
He told the orphans to be inspired by his life’s journey and know that nothing is impossible to achieve in life.
Even so, the Speaker expressed unhappiness about the breakdown of the home saying orphanages such as the Catholic Action for Street Children have come to fill the gap because of the breakdown of the family.
The event was heavily attended by the clergy, dignitaries of state, including MPs, some former MPs, government officials and leaders of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr. Bagbin’s party.
Among the dignitaries were Mr. Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, National Chairman of the NDC, MP for Ashaiman, Ernest Norgbe, and the former MP for Yunyoo Constituency in the Northern Region, Joseph Naabu.
Later, on the sidelines, Hon. Naabu and Norgbe were full of praise for the Speaker over his style of leadership in the hung parliament which has stabilized the legislature even though it is virtually divided in the middle.
Meanwhile, the Speaker’s presence at the orphanage brought a siege of throngs of people who came to catch a glimpse of him. It took security personnel a hectic time to stabilize the program.
As part of the program, the orphans of the orphanage staged parliamentary proceedings in honour of Speaker Bagbin.
Apostle Dr. Eric Emefa Agbogedenu, Senior Prelate Faith City Chapel International on his part said “Speaker Bagbin has exhibited a sense of a father’s humble beginning for celebrating his birthday in such a deprived orphanage home for the needy.
"Infact, it was an excellent program and I like the way the children were calling for God’s blessings for him. It means Speaker Bagbin has not forgotten about his roots as a humble beginner.
"I was also happy to see the Speaker’s beautiful wife, Mrs. Linda Ofosuwaa Obu Bagbin and kids as well as Stephen Ashitey Adjei alias Moshake, at the wonderful birthday ceremony at the whole gathering was impressed with Speaker Bagbin’s brilliant speech.”
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Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin