The group has also chastised the speaker, Alban Bagbin, for “go missing” when the house was going to vote on whether or not the e-levy bill should be considered under a certificate of urgency.
Parliamentary sitting on Monday, December 20, 2021, turned violent when first deputy speaker, Joseph Osei Owusu attempted to make way for second deputy speaker, Andrew Asiamah to take the chair to preside whiles he goes to vote – a move strongly resisted by NDC minority MPs.
Below is the statement:
Brawl in Parliament. We commend the actions of our NPP MPs in Parliament, and condemn the actions of the Speaker of Parliament and the NDC MPs
In as much as legislative violence has been a feature of many legislative houses globally, it’s a relatively new feature in Ghana’s parliament house. This feature has more or less been a tool for the opposition NDC parliamentarians to use to disrupt business in the house, on sensing a possible defeat in voting on issues. We all recall the famous kicking of ballot boxes not long ago on the election of the Speaker of the House.
While we do not support violence, we commend the actions of the NPP MPs for not allowing the NDC MPs to snatch the Speaker’s seat, to stop both the 1st and the 2nd Deputy Speakers from voting on the very sensitive E-Levy issue presented before parliament. While we agree the issue is one that has divided many, we condemn fully the actions of some of the NDC MPs that led to the brawl and the alleged use of a blade to slash the Minister for Sports, Hon Mustapha Ussif. A barbaric act in all measure and a behaviour not fit for an MP.
We also struggle to understand why the Rt. Hon Albert Bagbin, Speaker of Parliament left the chambers with his where about unknown getting to the time of voting, under the pretence of sicknesses as reported later. Why did the Rt. Hon Speaker not adjourned proceedings? Or absent himself from proceeding of the day?
We believe this was a planned attempt by the minority NDC caucus to reduce the number of voting MPs on the NPP majority side on this very issue that bothers on the finances of the State. This is regrettable and we condemn this action fully. We call on the relevant parliamentary authority to investigate this further.
The people of Ghana must not be taken for granted by legislatures at any cost, and while the world continue to watch Ghana, we in the NPP UK will continue to do same and act in our democratic right, and not only as spectators.
Long Live Ghana
Long Live Democracy
Chaotic scenes in Parliament