Doe Adjaho lacks the fatherly figure- Akomea

The Director of Communications of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Akomea, has described the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Doe Adjaho, as widely experienced in parliamentary issues, but lacks the fatherly figure attribute a speaker should have.

He faulted the new Speaker of being too partisan on the few occasions he sat in for the former Speaker, Mrs Justice Joyce Bamford Addo.

He made the comments on the MultiTV and Joy FM news analysis programme Newsfile.

Mr Adjaho was the First Deputy Speaker in the Fifth Parliament of the Fourth Republic that was dissolved on Sunday.

Addressing the issue of a new look parliamentary leadership on Newsfile, Nana Akomea touted the credentials of Mr Adjaho as a very experienced leader in the house, but said he was perceived as being too partisan on issues.

Chronicling the qualities and attributes of previous Speakers, at least in the Fourth Republic, Nana Akomea said since 1992, all the speakers appeared elderly and had a father figure attribute which brought some veneration to the position.

He was quick to add though that Mr Adjaho did not have that attribute and appeared to have too many of his contemporaries or his “class mates” in the House.

The former Deputy Majority Leader in the last Parliament, Mr Rashid Pelpuo, who was also on the show, however, disagreed.

He stated that he was “excited to find such a man taking up the position.”

Mr Pelpuo explained that Mr Adjaho had challenges in the last Parliament having to debate in the House for the NDC and also sit in as Speaker when Mrs Justice Addo was not around.

That, he said, led to the perception of bias.

He also dismissed Nana Akomea’s assertions that the Speaker must be necessarily old in order to perform well.