Chaos in parliament over election speaker
Ashaiman MP whisks away speaker’s seat
Parliament to investigate disturbances
In a year where social media users coined a new spelling for the word ‘violence’, members of Ghana’s 8th Parliament did their best to prove that indeed ‘peace is just a word and that vawulence it is’.
From its first sitting on January 7, 2021, to its last meeting on December 21, 2021, the first year of the eighth parliament typified violence.
With the parliament being a hung one, it was expected that there were going to be a number of confrontations but little did people anticipate things were going to degenerate to a level where a member of parliament would be cut with a razor blade albeit allegedly.
Things indeed degenerated. Not once but on three occasions and each incident felt like a worse version of the previous one.
While the house can be commended for some moments of serenity and maturity, it cannot be contested that the events of January 7 and 8, December 1 and December 21 are what the first year of the 8th parliament will be remembered for.
Memories of the Minority Chief Muntaka Mubarak kicking ballot boxes and Carlos Ahenkorah bolting with and chewing ballot papers on the night of the election of the Speaker of Parliament will be forgotten by no Ghanaian who watched the unfortunate episode.
Parliament offered apology and promised to investigate the incident and punish those who broke its Standing Orders but that remains to be seen.
The video of the Member of Parliament for Ashaiman charging towards the speaker’s seat and whisking it away following a disagreement in the house over whether First Deputy Speaker, Joe Wise, had the legitimacy to occupy that seat will have you mortified.
It was the second high-profile disagreement in the house where members of minority and majority hurled expletives at each other.
Ernest Norgbe defended his decision with the argument that “I didn’t snatch the speaker’s seat, I was preserving the seat for Mr Speaker.”
“Well, it’s not my duty but when the Speaker rules that he is not the Speaker, then the Speaker (Alban Bagbin) will have to come and sit on the seat and take decision on that,” he told TV3.
Parliament again offered apologies with commitment from both sides of the house that never will they engage in such things.
It took less than a month for that promise to be broken. It was Monday, December 20, 2021, and speaker, Bagbin, after moderating deliberations in the house had left albeit under very controversial circumstances.
Joe Wise, the First Deputy Speaker took over the seat and the topic of interest was the controversial Electronic Transaction Levy.
The house after a debate on whether it should be admitted under a certificate of urgency was going to vote on it after the minority protested a decision by the Second Deputy Speaker that the Majority side won the voice vote on the motion.
Before the division started, Joe Wise disclosed that he would vacate his post as Speaker and partake in the process as MP for Bekwai.
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That statement ruffled feathers in the camp of minority as they had anticipated that once he is the speaker, he had lost his right to partake in the division.
Joe Wise being out of the voting means the house was locked on 137-137 and with the law stipulating that when there is an equal vote on a motion, those against it win, the minority believed they were home and dry.
With their perceived victory almost out of the window, they had to employ a tactic to prevent Joe Wise from being counted. So just when he vacated his seat for the Second Deputy Speaker Andrew Asiamah Amoako to replace him, some MPs on the minority side charged towards the seat but they were confronted in their tracks by some MPs on the Majority side and that led to a full-blown kick-boxing match.
MPs traded blows and in the process inflicted wounds on the face of the Sports Minister, Mustapha Ussif.
The house reconvened on Tuesday, December 21, 2021, and resolved to suspend sitting on January 18, 2022.
Some MPs have apologized in their personal capacity but the house is to officially release a statement on the matter.
It is expected the break will be used to deliberate and hold further negotiations on the E-levy.