Pro-New Patriotic Party Group, Alliance for Footsoldiers Advocacy (AFFA) have petitioned the Speaker of Parliament to initiate disciplinary actions against some MPs who took pictures and videos of their ballots during a recent voting process.
Describing itself as a public interest group, AFFA in the petition dated March 27, 2023; noted that the actions of some three named MPs during the approval of six persons nominated by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for ministerial appointment, was in clear violation of the Constitution and the Standing Orders of Parliament.
“I write on behalf of the Alliance For Footsoldiers Advocacy (AFFA), — a public interest group, to respectfully draw your attention to the abuse of privileges, and flagrant violation of the 1992 Constitution and Standing Orders of Parliament by some Members of Parliament (MPs).
“We have discovered that during voting on the floor of Parliament on Friday, 24th. March 2023, in respect of President Akufo-Addo's ministerial nominees, some MPs from the Minority side of the House, as against the norm, took their phones to the polling booth, where they brazenly took pictures and videos of their votes, contrary to Article 49(1) of the 1992 constitution and Order 109 of the Standing Orders of Parliament.
“They include: Hon. Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, MP Tamale Central; Hon. Abla Dzifa Gomashie, MP Ketu South; Hon. Zenator Agyemang Rawlings, MP Korle Klottey,” the group said in the petition signed by its Executive Secretary, D. T. Adomako.
Parliament on Friday, March 24, 2023, voted to approve the six ministerial nominees by a majority vote.
Prior to the Appointment Committee's vetting of some six persons nominated by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for ministerial positions, the NDC had issued a directive to its MPs to reject the nominees in demand for a reduction in the size of the current government.
However, when the House last Friday conducted a secret ballot on the nominees, all six got overwhelming votes despite the equal numbers on both sides of the House.
The outcome of the voting process has led to accusations of treachery being made against the minority MPs.
Some members of the caucus have since taken to social media to express their disappointment with the result while others have sought to claim their innocence by sharing evidence of their votes.
But according to AFFA, the actions of the MPs in question has the potential to subject Parliament to ridicule.
“It is in this vein that we respectfully petition your high office to summon these MPs before the Privileges Committee of Parliament in a televised session, to justify cause, why they must not be sanctioned. We are fortified that reprimanding them for their unparliamentary conduct will serve as a deterrent against future occurrences,” the petition addressed to the Speaker of Parliament stated.
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The group is asking that Murtala, Zanetor and Dzifa be sanctioned for their actions