The Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana is the presiding officer of the

Parliament of Ghana The Parliament of Ghana is the legislative body of the Government of Ghana. History Legislative representation in Ghana dates back to 1850, when the country was a British colony known as Gold Coast. The body, called the Legislative Council, ...

. 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

Emmanuel Charles Quist Sir Emmanuel Charles Quist, also known as Paa Quist (21 May 1880, in Christiansborg, Accra – 30 March 1959) was a barrister, educator and judge who served as the first Speaker of the Gold Coast Legislative Assembly and the first Speaker of ...

who was Speaker of the National Assembly from independence on 6 March 1957 until December 1957. Prior to Ghana's independence, the Governor of Ghana presided over the legislative council. This changed in 1949 when Emmanuel Quist became its first African president. The Legislative Council elected Quist as its first speaker in 1951. The longest serving speaker was

Daniel Francis Annan Justice Daniel Francis Kweipe Annan (November 7, 1928 – July 16, 2006) was Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana from 1993 to 2001. He was a member of the Provisional National Defence Council government which governed Ghana prior the fourth repub ...

who served from 7 January 1993 to 6 January 2001. In January 2009, Joyce Adeline Bamford-Addo became the first lady to be speaker of the Ghanaian parliament.

Appointment and office tenure

Article 95 of the 1992 Ghana constitution provides for the election of a speaker from among the members of parliament or from persons who are qualified to be members of parliament. Where the speaker is elected from among the members of parliament, Article 97 of the constitution specifies that the Speaker vacates his or her seat in Parliament, triggering a by-election. The only person to have been in this position so far is

Edward Adjaho Edward Korbly Doe Adjaho, (born 3 January 1957) is a Ghanaian politician and lawyer who was Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana from 2013 to 2017. He is the first speaker to have been elected from among members of Ghana's parliament. He thus bec ...

who was the elected member for the then Akatsi South constituency.

Deputy Speaker

There are two Deputy Speakers who are elected from among the members of parliament by the members. Both deputy speakers cannot be from the same political party. The current Deputy Speakers are the MP for

Bekwai Bekwai is a town and the capital of the Bekwai Municipal, a municipality in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.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 ...

and MP for Fomena,

Andrew Asiamah Amoako Andrew Asiamah Amoako (24 February 1966) is a Ghanaian lawyer, politician and member of the Eighth Parliament of the Fourth Republic of Ghana, elected to office in December 2020 as an independent candidate. He currently represents the Fomena Co ...

, an Independent MP.

Role

Article 101 of the Ghana Constitution stipulates that the Speaker presides at all sittings of parliament. Where the speaker is not able to do so, one of the two deputies presides. No parliamentary business can take place without the speaker in the chair. The speaker also takes precedence over all people in Ghana except the

President of Ghana The president of the Republic of Ghana is the elected head of state and head of government of Ghana, as well as commander-in-chief of the Ghana Armed Forces. The current president of Ghana is Nana Akufo-Addo, who won the 2020 presidential elec ...

and the

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

. In view of this, the speaker may act on behalf of the president if neither the president nor the vice president is able to do so. The constitution stipulates that there should be an election within three months of the speaker assuming the presidency due to the death or removal of the president and vice president. The Speaker does not have a vote in parliament. This means that when the votes are tied, the motion is lost. The Speaker is also the chairman of the parliamentary Service Board. The Speaker also appoints four additional members to this board. The sixth member of the board is the Clerk of Parliament.

List of speakers

Demographics

References

External links

Parliament of Ghana official website
{{SpeakerGhanaParliament, state=collapsed Legislative speakers Parliament of Ghana Speakers of the Parliament of Ghana