Alban Bagbin

Alban Bagbin was first elected to Parliament in 1992 and has been in the House ever since. On 7 January 2021 he became Speaker of a Parliament split exactly down the middle, and in January 2025 he was chosen again to lead the Ninth Parliament.

Roots

Bagbin, born on 24 September 1957, is the fourth of nine children of the farmers Sansunni and Margaret Bagbin, and comes from Sombo in the Upper West Region. He attended Wa and Tamale secondary schools, graduated in law and English from the University of Ghana in 1980 and was called to the Bar in 1982. He later took an executive master's in governance and leadership at GIMPA.

Before politics

He worked at the Statistical Service and as personnel manager of the State Hotels Corporation, then taught English at a secondary school in Tripoli, Libya. Back in Ghana from 1986 he practised law, becoming a partner at Law Trust Company in 1993.

Parliament

He represented Nadowli West, later Nadowli-Kaleo, for the National Democratic Congress through seven parliaments. He was Majority Leader under President Mills, Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing from 2010 and Minister for Health from 2012 to 2013, and Second Deputy Speaker from 2017 to 2021. He lost the 2019 NDC presidential primary to John Mahama.