Ghanaians express disgust at MPs conduct
Parliament adjourns sitting indefinitely
The Ghana Police Service has stated that it has initiated steps to engage the Marshal and leadership of Parliament over the chaos that erupted on the floor on Monday December 20, 2021.
The engagement, according to the police, is to fashion out ways to forestall future reoccurrence of violence on the floor of Parliament.
Scuffle between majority and minority MPs broke out after the first deputy speaker, Joseph Osei Owusu attempted to give way to the Second Deputy Speaker, Andrew Asiamah to take over proceedings to enable him cast his ballot in a vote to determine whether or not the e-levy should be admitted under a certificate of urgency.
But the police in a statement dated December 21, 2021 intimated that it failed to intervene in the brawl bearing in mind that it was not clothed with powers to deal with security issues within the precincts of Parliament.
“The Ghana Police Service wishes to draw the attention of the general public to the fact that, by Ghana’s constitutional arrangement, security issues within the Chamber of parliament are the responsibility of the Marshal to Parliament who takes instructions from the Clerk of Parliament on such matters. The legal position is that the Police have no authority to enter the Chamber of Parliament to undertake any law enforcement venture. Any such act will be in contravention of the laws of the country,” parts of the statement read.
The statement further explained that the police could only act on security issues of Parliament if the Marshal and his officers refer such to it.
To this effect, the police mentions that it will engage relevant stakeholders in parliament to deal with the recurring brawl in the House adding that it does not intend to “overstep the limitations imposed on it by law”.
“The Police wish to assure the public that in as much as we are committed to our mandate of maintaining law and order in the Ghanaian society, we are also mindful not to overstep the limitations imposed on it by law. We have, however, initiated steps to engage the Clerk, Marshal and leadership of parliament to fashion out a more proactive way of supporting Parliament in this regard within the confines of the laws of the country” the statement concluded.
Read Below The Full Statement From The Police
Chaotic scenes in Parliament