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Kofi Attor has no 'responsibility as acting Speaker' - Bagbin's office
Kofi Attor has no 'responsibility as acting Speaker' - Bagbin's office

Kofi Attor has no 'responsibility as acting Speaker' - Bagbin's office

The Office of the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban S.K. Bagbin has reacted to a media publication and explained that Mr Kofi Attor has not been assigned any "responsibility as acting Speaker."

Rather, Mr Attor, who is a former Member of Parliament "currently works in the Speaker's Secretariat as Senior Advisor," a statement dated Monday, March 14, 2022, issued for the Office of Speaker stated.

It said the "Speaker assigns responsibility to him [Attor] and staff of his Secretariat from time to time. In all these, he [Attor] has never been assigned responsibility as acting Speaker, and those who caused the publication know this."

{tweetme}"In the instance under reference, Hon. Kofi Attor was assigned to receive a message, intended for the Speaker, from a delegation of Medicins Sans Frontières, an international medical humanitarian organisation. That assignment cannot make him the acting Speaker of Parliament."{/tweetme}

"It must be pointed out that the delegation was in Parliament primarily to meet with the leadership and the Health Committee of Parliament, which they did," it added.

Memo

In memo addressed to the leadership of Parliament last week from the Head of Parliamentary Relations and Protocol on behalf of the Speaker of Parliament, it was announced that Kofi Attor will host Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), the Independent International Medical humanitarian organisation that delivers emergency assistance in more than 65 counties, to people affected by armed conflicts, epidemics, natural or man-made disasters as well as exclusion from health care.

The delegation was paying a courtesy call on Parliament on Thursday, March 10, 2022 at 11am at the Speaker's Lounge.

The memo indicated that the Clerk of Parliament had directed that the leadership made up of Majority and Minority leaders, Chairman and Ranking Member of the Health Committee to join Kofi Attor in receiving the guests to Parliament.

Reaction

It is from this memo that some people, including the Member of Parliament for Ablekuma West, Mrs Ursula Owusu Ekuful are asking questions.

{tweetme}"When there are public officials in parliament, how does an ‘Advisor’ to the Speaker receive official delegations and the head of protocol, on the direction of the Clerk, sends a memo to the leadership of Parliament to join Kofi Attor to receive official delegations to Parliament?{/tweetme}

Below is a copy of the statement issued for the Speaker's Office

RE: "Bagbin Appoints NDC man as 'Acting Speaker'

The attention of the Office of the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Alban S.K Bagbin, has been drawn to a publication in the "Daily Guide" newspaper on Friday, March 11, 2022 under the headline indicated above.

We wish to state that Hon. Kofi Attor is a former Member of Parliament who currently works in the Speaker's Secretariat as Senior Advisor.

The Speaker assigns responsibility to him and staff of his Secretariat from time to time.

In all these, he has never been assigned responsibility as acting Speaker, and those who caused the publication know this.

In the instance under reference, Hon. Kofi Attor was assigned to receive a message, intended for the Speaker, from a delegation of Medicine Sans Frontières, an international medical humanitarian organization.

That assignment cannot make him the acting Speaker of Parliament.

It must be pointed out that the delegation was in Parliament primarily to meet with the leadership and the Health Committee of Parliament, which they did.

The said publication is just one of the mischievous attempts to court public disaffection and ridicule for the Speaker and bring him into disrepute.

The public is advised to ignore the mischief

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