-Advertisement-

5 times rampaging MPs turned Parliament into ‘battlefield’

Source The Ghana Report

The Parliament of Ghana was the centre of chaos and drama on Thursday, January 30, 2025, as the country watched legislators from the Majority and Minority sides clash in a violent confrontation.

The melee, which saw tables overturned and microphones broken during the vetting of Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa as Foreign Affairs Minister and Kwabena Mintah Akandoh as Minister of Health, has left many Ghanaians questioning the conduct of MPs.

The chaos erupted when the Minority MPs on the Appointments Committee asked to postpone the vetting of the two nominees to the next day, January 31.

This followed a 12-hour sitting, which had been prolonged extensively beyond 9 pm.

Following the widespread backlash from citizens, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament and Chairman of the committee, Bernard Ahiafor, rendered an apology to the nation on behalf of the House.

As discussions surrounding the vetting chaos take centre stage, The Ghana Report takes a look at other instances where scuffles disrupted parliamentary proceedings.

  • Brawl in Parliament over election of Speaker

Parliament

On January 7, 2021, the election of the Speaker of the 8th Parliament of the 4th Republic was marred by scuffles between the NDC and NPP sides in parliament.

The scuffle led to soldiers storming Ghana’s parliament for the first time over the stalemate between MP-elects over whether voting should be secret during the election of a new speaker.

Violent confrontations led to a hold-up after the leadership of the NDC in the House accused their colleagues from the NPP of violating the secret ballot rule of the election by showing their ballot to themselves.

NDC MPs, including John Jinapor and Muntaka Mubarak, kicked voting booths in protest against their peers’ decision to show their votes to their leadership.

The Tema West MP, Carlos Ahenkorah, also bolted with ballot papers while counting was ongoing.

He was, however, given wild chase by the NDC MPs, some of whom assaulted him in a free-for-all brawl.

  • Free-for-all ‘fight’ in Ghana’s parliament over E-levy voting

In December 2021, another disturbance occurred on the floor of parliament during voting on the controversial E-levy bill.

While taking votes on whether the E-levy bill should be taken under a certificate of urgency, the minority got infuriated over an attempt by the presiding Speaker, Joe Osei-Owusu, to leave the chair to cast his vote.

The minority had earlier contended that per parliament’s standing orders, the Speaker of Parliament does not have a casting vote; however, Joe Osei-Owusu indicated that he would still vote.

The brawl saw dozens of the opposition parliamentarians exchange fisticuffs with their colleagues on the majority side while some officials of parliament tried to protect the Speaker’s seat and the mace of parliament from being attacked.

  • Ken Agyapong clashes with Sylvester Tetteh in Parliament

There were near blows between Kennedy Agyapong and Sylvester Tetteh in Parliament on Tuesday, February 13, 2024, while the day’s proceedings were ongoing.

The incident occurred when Sylvester Tetteh, the MP for Bortianor-Ngleshie-Amanfro, attempted to extend pleasantries with his colleague Kennedy Agyapong when the latter got infuriated for no apparent reason.

Although the parliamentary session was ongoing, Mr. Agyapong was seen engaging in a heated verbal exchange with Mr. Tetteh, vehemently urging him to step aside.

The unexpected confrontation took many by surprise as the exchange escalated in intensity.

As voices rose and accusations flew, both MPs stood toe-to-toe, their faces contorted with anger.

However, before matters could escalate further, Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin swiftly stepped in to whisk Sly Tetteh away from the chamber.

  • Ken Agyapong and Muntaka Mubarak showdown

An open confrontation in 2018 between the then MP for Assin Central Kennedy Agyapong and the MP for Asawase Muntaka Mubarak resulted in near blows over a request made by the latter for the former to be referred to the privileges committee over the death of investigator Ahmed Suale.

Muntaka wanted Mr. Agyapong to be hurled before the committee based on comments that the latter had made months before the killing of the Tiger Eye P.I. investigator.

The visibly exasperated lawmakers freely insulted each other as they were prevented by other members from getting close to each other.

Before the start of the parliamentary session that day, an angry Ken confronted Muntaka and asked why he dragged him to the Privileges Committee over Suale’s murder case.

It took the intervention of other MPs present to prevent a physical attack.

 

Leave A Comment

Your email address will not be published.

You might also like