Parliament will turn into a boxing arena if young entrants aren’t checked – First Deputy Speaker

The First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joseph Osei Owusu has reckoned that the law-making arm of government could turn into a boxing arena if new entrants coming into the house are not properly checked.

Mr Osei Owusu said political parties in Ghana who have representations in Parliament have failed to groom young ones for leadership roles hence the brawls recorded in Parliament in recent times.

He expressed worry that in the next two or three Parliaments if the conduct of young ones is not checked by their parties, the Chamber of Parliament will turn into a boxing arena.

Speaking in an interview on the number of young people who have picked the parliamentary forms of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in an attempt to get into Parliament, the Bekwai constituency law-maker who is one of the longest-serving lawmakers stated that the level of the decorum when he entered parliament compared to the current situation is not the same.

“The level of decorum I observed when I joined [Parliament] and what I observed today, there is a vast difference. If you ask me, it is a bad reflection of young people coming into the chamber. I am afraid that if we don’t curb it now, in the next two or three Parliaments we will not have a parliament, we will have a boxing ring,” he lamented.

“The parties which have the responsibility to groom people before they become representatives here are not doing anything. Unfortunately, it appears to me that those who are vile in the choice of their language, those who are rude in their attitude towards their opponents and sometimes internal opponents, and those who can make the most catching comments about others are gaining more popularity and they are being put in front,” he said on TV3 on February 26.