The Office of the Speaker of Parliament has urged members of the general public to disregard mischievous media reportages on his recent travels to Dubai for medical review.

A statement issued by the Speaker office said, such wicked and narrow minded sponsored by faceless persons only sought to cause public hatred to the speaker without recourse to the bare facts at hand.

It said the Speaker office has taken note of the publications in both the new and traditional media and would place on record that such publication are palpable falsehood and should be treated with the contempt.

“The Rt. Hon. Speaker did not travel to Dubai with his children as is being alleged. Indeed, Mr. Speaker has never included his children in any of his trips.

“The Travel expenses for Mr. Speaker’s trip to Dubai is in accordance with what is prescribed for the Speaker of Parliament long before Rt. Hon Bagbin became Speaker, and also for analogous members of government such as the President, Vice President and the Chief Justice.

“The figures quoted in the story as per diem are false. The Speaker has no hand in the computation of his per diem and it is available as part of the official records of the state. It is part of the mischief that the publication is aimed at.

RT Hon Bagbin, Speaker

“For purposes of clarity, Mr. Speaker traveled with the medical doctor in charge of Parliament Medical Centre, his spouse as carer and two other officials of Parliament as the least in practice. There is no advance party, no children, and certainly no other member on his entourage,” the statement set the facts.

It added that, “what is intriguing is the focus on Mr. Speaker’s travel and the efforts at exaggerating the cost.”

The office wondered why there is complete silence on the travels of other members of government, the frequency of which is far higher than that of Mr. Speaker.?

“Even within the hierarchy of Parliament, there are members of the leadership whose frequency of travel is far higher than that of Mr. Speaker. It is also on record that Rt. Hon. Bagbin, in his 14 months as Speaker, is the least travelled of all previous Speakers of Parliament within the same time frame,” it added.

The office therefore advised the public to see in such publications the political mischief that is intended and ignore such publications with the contempt they deserve.

Copy of the statement Below

About Author

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *