It is with great humility that I accept the high and privileged office of the Speaker of the 9th Parliament of the Fourth Republic of Ghana, having had the same honour to be Speaker of the 8th Parliament.
I am grateful to the Almighty God for His grace and mercies for me to achieve this rare feat. To Him be all the praise and honour.
Honourable Members of Parliament-elect, I am very grateful for the privilege and confidence you have reposed in me to be Speaker and to head this Honourable House once more.
I also express my gratitude to the President-elect, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, for the trust and confidence in me and my leadership of the House, and for recommending my candidature in consultation with the leadership of the great National Democratic Congress to be elected Speaker of this Parliament.
I came to the Speaker of the 8th Parliament with my experience as the longest legislator of the House. I now come to the 9th Parliament with just not that background, but now with the experience of four years of Speakership of a very difficult hung Parliament.
I promise to bring all these experiences to bear in guiding this House to perform its mandate with efficiency, diligence, and above all, with a sense of being the bulwark of democracy in Ghana.
To the good people of Ghana, who continue to hope for a better Ghana, I urge you to support your Parliament and be interested and engaged with the work of Parliament.
As the Standing Orders of Parliament directs, after we have performed this duty of electing me as the Speaker of Parliament, I will have the singular honour and duty to also proceed to perform the other duties imposed by the Standing Orders of the House, that is, to swear in the members-elect and proceed to supervise the election of two Deputy Speakers of the House.
Once again, I am very grateful for this great honour. Thank you so much.
