The Member of Parliament for Nadowli-Kaleo, Alban S.K. Bagbin, has justified his continuous stay in Parliament, crediting it to his “goodness and experience” in the country’s legislature.

He argued once he is good and healthy, there is nothing wrong for him to bow out after what he termed “only 24 years” in Parliament.

Mr Bagbin who is one of the longest serving parliamentarians; something that has earned him the tag “Mugabe”, said many Ghanaians have called on him to give others the opportunity to also serve but declined those requests.

For him, if someone is not good or in good health, such a person cannot stay in a position for long, saying “if you are not good, if you are not healthy, you can’t be in any position for long.

“I’m being referred [to] here in Ghana as a Mugabe not because I’m 92 years but because I’m the longest serving Member of Parliament. From 1992; only 24 years and yet I’m termed old,” he said after he opened the 2016 Defence Management Course in Accra Monday.

According to him, because people don’t appreciate experience and goodness, “sometimes we hear many people calling for me to also at least, let it [the MP] go to somebody.”

He said he has accepted the Mugabe tag, saying, “I remain as Mugabe 24 years and still counting”.

The course

The Defence Management Course is being organised by the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College in collaboration with the Cranfield University in the United Kingdom.

The two weeks course is being attended by senior armed forces students of the Staff College from 12 African countries, personnel from selected Ministries, Departments and Agencies as well as the media.

It seeks to expose uniformed and civilian personnel working within and in collaboration with the security sector to the issues, principles and techniques relevant to improving the governance and management of the defence and security sector.

By Stephen Kwabena Effah|3news.com|Ghana