Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin (born 24 September 1957) is a

Ghanaian Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

politician who is the current

Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana The Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana is the presiding officer of the Parliament of Ghana. The current speaker is Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin. He was elected on 7 January 2021. History The first speaker of the Parliament of Ghana was Sir ...

. He was the

Minister for Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

in the Ghana government from January 2012 until February 2013 when Hanny-Sherry Ayittey took over the position. He served as the Member of Parliament for Nadowli West constituency in the

Upper West Region of Ghana The Upper West Region of Ghana is located in the north-western corner of Ghana and is bordered by Upper East region to the east, Northern region to the south, and Burkina Faso to the west and north. The Upper West regional capital and largest set ...

in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th parliaments of the 4th republic of Ghana. He contested for the presidential candidate slot of the National Democratic Congress in 2019 but subsequently lost to former President

John Dramani Mahama John Dramani Mahama (; born 29 November 1958) is a Ghanaian politician who served as President of Ghana from 24 July 2012 to 7 January 2017. He previously served as Vice President of Ghana from January 2009 to July 2012, and took office as pres ...

. On 7 January 2021 Bagbin was elected Speaker of 8th Parliament of the Fourth Republic.

Early life and education

Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin was born on 24 September 1957 to Sansunni Bagbin and Margaret B. Bagbin who were both peasant farmers. He is the fourth child of nine children. He is a member of the

Dagaaba The Dagaaba people (singular Dagao, and, in northern dialects, for both plural and singular
, update as of 25 May ...

ethnic group. He hails from Sombo,

Upper West Region The Upper West Region of Ghana is located in the north-western corner of Ghana and is bordered by Upper East region to the east, Northern region to the south, and Burkina Faso to the west and north. The Upper West regional capital and largest se ...

of Ghana. Alban Bagbin was educated at the Wa Secondary School and

Tamale Secondary School Tamale Senior High School formerly Government Secondary School, Tamale, Gbewaa Secondary School, and more recently Tamale Secondary School is a co-educational second cycle boarding school located at Education Ridge, a suburb of the Sagnarigu ...

. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Law and English at the

University of Ghana The University of Ghana is a public university located in Accra, Ghana. It the oldest and largest of the thirteen Ghanaian national public universities. The university was founded in 1948 as the University College of the Gold Coast in the Br ...

in 1980. He proceeded to the

Ghana School of Law The Ghana School of Law (GSL) is an educational institution in Ghana for training lawyers. The school is the only one that provides training for law graduates in the Barrister at Law program. The Professional Law Course is designed for Law Gradu ...

at Makola in Accra after which he was called to the bar in 1982. Bagbin also earned an Executive Masters in Governance and Leadership from the

Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration The Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) is a public co-educational university spread over four campuses (Accra, Tema, Kumasi and Takoradi) and made up of six schools, ten research centers located at Greenhill in Accra ...

(GIMPA).

Career

Bagbin worked as the acting Secretary to the Statistical Service Board at the Bureau of Statistics and Statistical Service from 1980 to 1982. He worked as Personnel Manager of the erstwhile State Hotels Corporation consisting of Ambassador and Continental Hotels between 1982 and 1983, before relocating to Libya to teach English in Tripoli at the Suk Juma Secondary School. Following Bagbin's return to Ghana in 1986, he joined Akyem Chambers, a law firm of legal practitioners, consultants and notaries public. As an attorney, eventually rising to become a partner. Whilst working at Okyeman Chambers, between 1989 and 1992, he was appointed as the external solicitor of the Nii Ngleshie royal family of James Town, Credit Unions Association of Ghana (CUA) and several other private business firms within Accra. After working at Okyeman Chambers for 7 years, he moved from there in 1993 and to date is a partner of the Law Trust company, a legal firm of law practitioners, consultants and notaries public.

Political life

Bagbin is a member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC). He was first elected into Parliament during the 1992 Ghanaian General Elections. He represented the Nadowli West Constituency in the Upper West Region. In 2006, Bagbin announced his intentions to run for president in 2008 on the NDC ticket, but he never stood for the primaries. He became the Majority Leader in the Ghanaian parliament in 2009. Following a cabinet reshuffle in January 2010, he was appointed Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing by President Mills. He was also the Majority Leader of Parliament under President Mahama's tenure of office, he succeeded

Benjamin Kunbuor Benjamin Bewa-Nyog Kumbuor was the Ghanaian Minister for Defence of the Ghanaian Ministry of Defence and a Ghanaian politician. He was the Member of Parliament for the Nandom constituency. Education His last name is also reported as Kunbuor. K ...

, who was appointed as the Minister of Defense. He also served as the Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament from January 2017 to January 2021.

Member of Parliament

1996 Elections In 1996, Bagbin won the Nadowli North seat with 12,605 votes out of the 16,485 valid votes cast, representing 76.46% over NPP's Lawrence Banyen who polled 2,213 votes representing 13.42%, Yuoni Moses Vaalandzeri of the PNC polled 1,490 votes representing 9.04% and Baslide Kpemaal of the NCP polled 177 votes representing 1.07%. 2000 Elections In the 2000 Ghanaian elections, Bagbin was retained his seat as the member of parliament for the Nadwoli North constituency. He won the elections with 9,004 votes out of the total votes cast, equivalent to 58.60% over Dr. Anleu-Mwine D.B, an independent candidate, Clement Kanfuri Senchi of the Peoples National Congress, Ningkpeng Pauline of the

New Patriotic Party , logo = , colorcode = #132f7a , founder = , founded = 28 July 1992 , dissolved = , leader = Nana Akufo-Addo , chairman = Stephen Ayensu Ntim Stephen Ntim elected NPP National Chairman on fifth attempt http://www.gna.org.gh/1.2152672 ...

, John Bayon Boniface Wetol, Domayele Marcel Aston of the National Reform Party of the United Ghana Movement Party who obtained, 2,089 votes, 718 votes, 145 votes and 0 votes respectively. 2004 Elections In 2004, ahead of the elections, Nadwoli North was split into two constituencies, Nadwoli West and Nadwoli East constituency. Bagbin was elected as the member of parliament for the Nadowli West constituency during 2004 elections. He was elected with 11,296 votes out of 22,349 total valid votes cast equivalent to 50.5%. He was elected over Clement K. Senchi of the People's National Convention, Daniel Anleu-Mwine Baga of the

, Sasuu Bernard Kabawunu of the

Convention People's Party The Convention People's Party (CPP) is a socialist political party in Ghana based on the ideas of the first President of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah. The CPP was formed in June 1949 after Nkrumah broke away from the United Gold Coast Convention (UG ...

, Bisung Edward of the Democratic People's Party and Dapilaa Ishak an independent candidate. who obtained 625 votes, 5,297 votes, 152 votes, 188 votes, 4,791 votes respectively.

Speaker of Parliament

Bagbin is the Speaker of the 8th Parliament of the Fourth Republic of Ghana. He was sworn in on 7 January 2021, after a well drawn out contest, after he was nominated by the Ghanaian Members of Parliament on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress. Bagbin defeated the incumbent, Mike Oquaye who was nominated by the New Patriotic Party for the position.

Personal life

Bagbin is married to Alice Adjua Yornas Bagbin, who is a Programme Officer of the

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...

Office in Ghana. He is a Christian and worships as a Roman Catholic.

References

External links

GhanaDistricts.comGhana Parliament website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bagbin, Alban 1957 births Living people Ghanaian Roman Catholics 20th-century Ghanaian lawyers University of Ghana alumni Ghanaian MPs 1993–1997 Ghanaian MPs 1997–2001 Ghanaian MPs 2001–2005 Ghanaian MPs 2005–2009 Ghanaian MPs 2009–2013 Ghanaian MPs 2013–2017 Ghanaian MPs 2017–2021 Place of birth missing (living people) National Democratic Congress (Ghana) politicians Ghana School of Law alumni Health ministers of Ghana 21st-century Ghanaian politicians 21st-century Ghanaian lawyers People from Upper West Region Speakers of the Parliament of Ghana Tamale Senior High School alumni