The newly elected Members of Parliament (MPs) for the constituencies of Akwatia and Tamale Central have been sworn in by Speaker of the House of Representatives Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin.
The Speaker gave Professor Alidu Seidu of Tamale Central and Bernard Bediako Baidoo of Akwatia the Oaths of Office and Allegiance at the start of the Third Meeting of the First Session of the Ninth Parliament on Tuesday.
After their predecessors passed away, the Electoral Commission held by-elections in September of this year, and the two newly elected MPs emerged victorious.
A 40-year-old lawyer named Mr. Baidoo received 18,199 votes to replace the late Ernest Yaw Kumi, the local New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP, who passed away in July of this year.
Professor Seidu, a lecturer at the University of Ghana and the former head of the political science department, was elected without opposition in Tamale Central.
He takes over for the late Dr. Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, who passed away in a military helicopter crash in August while serving as the constituency’s previous National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP.
Mr. Bagbin welcomed the two MPs to Parliament and warned that he would hold them to their vows when he addressed the House following their swearing-in.
He joked that if they didn’t perform their jobs, he would give them “the hoe and the cutlass” first.
“You do not go to your farm without the hoe or the cutlass; so, on a daily basis, I observe members when they walk in,” he stated.
Mr. Bagbin mentioned that he continued to consult the Constitution and the Standing Orders on a daily basis despite serving in Parliament for 33 years.
“Please, if you really want to perform your duties well, you have to keep them close, even sleep with them,” the Speaker remarked, passing copies of the Constitution and the Standing Orders to the new Members of Parliament.
He stated, “There is a lot to learn. Whether you are a professor or a farmer, you have come to a new school, and that school starts from crèche — and you are starting from crèche today.”
He cautioned them against assuming they already understood parliamentary work because of their professional background or past knowledge.
He urged them not to let the attitudes of more seasoned colleagues deter them, saying, “You do not know it, and you have to start learning, please.”
“Do not be deterred or intimidated; you can perform better than them. But at least, out of respect, give reverence to them because they were here before you,” he continued.
The Speaker later told the members that the House now had 276 members in total after the two additional MPs were sworn in.
“Please, the number is no longer 275; we now have 276,” he remarked, adding that sufficient space must be made to house the MPs whenever their numbers rise.
“So please, it is a plea that before this number increases further, we must, as a country, start looking for a proper place; if not, the integrity of this structure is being undermined,” Mr. Bagbin advised.
Source: newsthemegh.com