Member of Parliament (MP) for Old Tafo constituency, Vincent Ekow Assafuah, has said that he feels ashamed to call himself a Member of Parliament (MP) over the scuffle that happened in Parliament on Monday.
He said this following the commentaries coming from Ghanaians and netizens due to the introduction of the controversial 1.75% e-levy proposed in the 2022 budget.
Speaking on Badwam on Adom TV, Mr Assafuah said, “as I sit here I feel ashamed to be a Member of Parliament. I feel ashamed to call myself a Member of Parliament.
“I was from Joy FM and I heard some commentaries from ordinary Ghanaians, very bad. The kind of expression and the insult they said to us MPs were very bad,” he added.
He disclosed that the scuffles and brawl in Parliament can be cured by both lawmakers (MPs) and the leadership of the House.
“If this can be cured it depends on us and the leadership. Most importantly it must start from the leadership. If I say leadership I mean the leader of Parliament. Who’s rightly honourable Speaker, Alban Bagbin,” he stressed.
Mr Assafuah believes all the squabble in Parliament could have been averted if the Speaker, Alban Bagbin had shown his leadership in the Chamber.
“To me, I have not seen the leadership of the Speaker. Because if he had shown leadership, we wouldn’t have been here today,” he said.
Some MPs on Monday night were engaged in a fistfight following a disagreement during the voting on the e-levy.
The fight ensued when the MPs were voting in a headcount to decide whether the e-levy bill should be accepted under a certificate of urgency or not.