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Frank Annoh-Dompreh, the Majority Chief Whip in Parliament, has commended the New Patriotic Party members of parliament for stepping up to protect First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei-Owusu, from intended attack by some MPs on the minority side.
Annoh-Dompreh disclosed on Asempa FM that some members on the minority side had, through their gesticulations and statements, indicated their intention of harming Joe Wise and that something needed to be done to avert what could have been a sacrilege.
He lamented that the NDC side of the house appears to lean towards the use of force instead of Parliamentary rules to have their grievances addressed.
Despite admitting the event of December 20, is shameful and embarrassing, Annoh-Dompreh said his side was compelled to act because the minority members were racing towards the Speaker’s seat with violence.
“Our brothers on the minority side threw the first punch. If people can stand from their seats and make all kinds of gesticulations at the First Deputy Speaker, then it’s not good. The Speaker belongs to a family and political party who has blood running through his veins so we were not going to allow them attack him.
“What the NPP MPs did was an attempt to prevent the Speaker from being attacked because if you look at the conduct of the NDC MPs then, you would know that they didn’t mean well for Speaker. We were motivated by our desire to defend the Speaker and ensure sanity in the house. It is unfortunate that it degenerated into that.”
The Nsawam-Adoagyiri MP admitted that the first year of the 8th Parliament has been challenging and offered apologies to Ghanaians for how some MPs conducted themselves in the course of the year.
He, however, urged Ghanaians and the media to call out the MPs who undertake such embarrassing assignment.
What happened in Parliament
On Monday night, the First Deputy Speaker decided to take leave of the Speaker’s chair for the Second Deputy Speaker to take charge allegedly to enable him to participate in voting, which occasioned disagreement from the Minority, and a subsequent tussle over the Speaker’s sitting area ensued.
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.
However, calm returned moments after, before the Second Deputy Speaker, Andrew Asiamah Amoako, adjourned the sitting.
Meanwhile, the House, without the Speaker, Alban Bagbin has adjourned sitting to take a break for Christmas and will resume sitting on January 18, 2022.