Alban Bagbin, the Speaker of Parliament, was recently bestowed with the title of Naa Sunoyong Maalo Bagbin I, Tinmaali Naa of Takpo Traditional Council at Nadowli Kaleo. This event was attended by traditional leaders, family members, friends, and community members.
Brief Profile
Born on September 24, 1957, in Sombo, Upper West Region, Bagbin graduated from the University of Ghana (1977-1980) and the Ghana School of Law (1980-1982). He also holds an Executive Masters in Governance and Leadership from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA). Bagbin’s parents, Mr Sansunni Bagbin and Mrs Margaret B. Bagbin, were peasant farmers, and he is the fourth child of nine children in the Bagbin family.
Bagbin is married to Mrs Alice Adjua Yornas Bagbin, who serves as the Programme Officer of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) office in Ghana.
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Education-wise, Bagbin began his schooling at Roman Catholic Primary School in Sombo and completed his secondary education at Wa Secondary School and Tamale Secondary School, where he obtained his Ordinary Level and Advanced Level certificates. He then enrolled at the University of Ghana in 1977.
In his professional career, Bagbin gained diverse experiences through various roles. From 1980 to 1982, he worked as the acting Secretary to the Statistical Service Board at the Bureau of Statistics and Statistical Service. Between 1982 and 1983, he served as the Personnel Manager of the State Hotels Corporation (Ambassador / Continental Hotels). He also taught English at the Suk Juma Secondary School in Tripoli, Libya. After returning to Ghana in 1986, Bagbin became a partner at Akyem Chambers, a firm of legal practitioners, consultants, and notaries public. He has been a partner at the Law Trust Company, a firm of legal practitioners, consultants, and notaries public, since 1993.
Bagbin has held various positions in Parliament since 1994 and culminated his legislative career as the Majority Leader and Leader of the House. In the first Parliament of the Fourth Republic, he chaired the Parliamentary Committee on Subsidiary Legislation, served as the Vice Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Mines and Energy, and was a member of the Committee on Local Government and Rural Development. He has been a member of Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) and the international Law and Human Rights Programme of the PGA since 1995.
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Bagbin’s parliamentary roles in subsequent years included Chairman of the Advisory Committee on the Restructuring of the Water Sector (Ministry of Works and Housing) from 1996 to 2001, member of the National Media Commission from 1997 to 2001, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs in the Second Parliament of the Fourth Republic, and Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee from 2001 to 2005. He has also been involved in international parliamentary networks and organizations, such as the African Parliamentary Network against Corruption and the Global Organization of Parliamentarians against Corruption.
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Bagbin’s political journey began during his school days, where he held positions such as Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee at Legon Hall, University of Ghana. Inspired by the 1979 Revolution led by Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings, he actively joined politics when the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) transformed into the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in 1992. Bagbin considered his eight-year tenure as the Minority Leader (2001-2008) to be a challenging but rewarding period, as his party eventually gained power in the 2008 general elections and formed the Majority in Parliament.
