Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has finally addressed one of the most persistent political rumours in Ghana’s Fourth Republic — the claim that former Dome-Kwabenya MP, Sarah Adwoa Safo, crossed party lines to vote for him during the dramatic election that made him Speaker of the 8th Parliament.

Mr Bagbin, who was elected Speaker in January 2021 after a tense and chaotic voting process, said the long-held belief that an NPP MP voted for him is true — but it was not Adwoa Safo.

Speaking when the family of Apostle Kwadwo Safo paid a courtesy call on him in his office on Monday, October 13, the Speaker dismissed the speculation and publicly cleared the former lawmaker of any wrongdoing.

“I call her my daughter because when I came to Parliament, she was a small girl. So, I began calling her my daughter before she joined politics and entered Parliament. But we belong to different political traditions,” Mr Bagbin said.

He explained that his close personal relationship with Adwoa Safo might have led many to assume she was the one who defied her party during the historic Speaker election.

“Because she is my daughter and we love each other, when I was contesting to be Speaker, they thought she voted for me,” he clarified.

Mr. Bagbin’s remarks finally put to rest years of speculation that shadowed Adwoa Safo’s political career and triggered divisions within the New Patriotic Party following the razor-thin outcome of the 2021 Speaker election.