The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has stated that President John Dramani Mahama’s announcement of Builsa North MP James Agalga as the new Majority Leader was procedurally incorrect.
According to Speaker Bagbin, the President does not have the authority to formally communicate a change in the leadership of a parliamentary caucus to the Speaker.
He explained that under Parliament’s Standing Orders, any change in the leadership of the Majority or Minority Caucus must be formally communicated to the Speaker by the General Secretary of the political party concerned.
Speaker Bagbin made the clarification when Parliament reconvened on Monday, August 24, 2026, stressing that the prescribed procedure must be followed before Mr Agalga can be accorded the courtesies and recognition associated with the position of Majority Leader.
He said the Standing Orders define the Majority Leader as a Member of Parliament designated by the Majority Caucus as its leader in the House.
The Speaker’s clarification follows President Mahama’s announcement of Mr Agalga as the new Majority Leader, replacing Mahama Ayariga, who is set to take up a new role in government.
“The communication says acting because the President has no authority to communicate the change of the leadership of the House to the Speaker. And so it was actually done in error. This matter has come before the House a number of times. As a result, even in our current Standing Orders, we had to define the two terms, Majority Leader and Minority Leader.
“And clearly our Standing Orders say Majority Leader means a Member of Parliament designated by the Majority Caucus as their leader in the House. And as you know, the practice is that the party, under the hand of the General Secretary, communicates that decision of the party to the Speaker,” he said.
The Speaker noted that Mr Agalga could only assume the position after the appropriate communication is received from the party and the decision of the Majority Caucus is formally conveyed to the House.
“So the procedure today may look different. That is why you still see that the Majority Leader is still in his seat, because he’s still the Majority Leader, until otherwise communicated by the party and then decided by the caucus and the information passed on,” he added.
Source: Citi Newsroom
