Ghana’s Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Bagbin, has condemned the chaos that erupted in Parliament on Thursday, January 30.
He describes it as “disgraceful and deeply regrettable”.
To the speaker, the August House is gradually losing its public confidence.
“This House must acknowledge that it is rapidly eroding public confidence,” he said.
The Speaker has therefore formed a seven-member committee to investigate what transpired and has assured members that whoever is culpable will be made to face the law.
“Any member found culpable shall face appropriate disciplinary actions” and made it clear that the committee’s chairman was still responsible for executing his duties.
Background
Chaos erupted in Parliament after the minority in Parliament decided to end the day after vetting the transport minister.
To them, the vetting of Okudzeto Ablakwa and Kwabena Mintah Akandoh should be postponed to January 31 because they are tired.
However, the majority insisted that they would continue with the vetting.
The minority, who were not happy with the decision, started mounting their chairs on the table in the hall where the vetting was taking place.
Infuriated by that, the majority fought back. The fight led to the destruction of microphones among others.
It took the intervention of the majority leader, Mahama Ayariga, to calm tempers, after which he addressed the media, saying “It is clear from the level of destruction that the vetting cannot continue. All the microphones have been destroyed. That will make it impossible for the media to carry what the nominees say to Ghanaians. Vetting is about assessing the competence of the nominees. The vetting will therefore have to be postponed to tomorrow. We will get a new venue for the vetting,” he stated.
