Stop that! – Afenyo-Markin to appointment committee chair over Ayine question

Bernard Ahiafor, chairman of Appointment Committee [L] and Afenyo-Markin, ranking member

The vetting of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice-designate, Dr. Dominic Akurutinga Ayine, was marked by notable exchanges among members of the Appointments Committee of Parliament.

These included interactions between the Chairman of the Committee, First Deputy Speaker of Parliament Bernard Ahiafo, and the Ranking Member, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, who also serves as the Minority Leader.

The vetting exercise, which lasted nearly three hours, saw committee members posing a wide range of legal questions to the former law lecturer turned politician. Toward the latter part of the session, the leadership of the committee had their turn to question the nominee, focusing on significant legal issues.

However, tensions arose as the Chairman expressed concern about the prolonged questioning by the Ranking Member, Afenyo-Markin. With the clock nearing 9 PM and many members visibly fatigued, the Chairman intervened, asking, “Do you have a long way to go, Honourable Leader?”

Afenyo-Markin did not take kindly to this interjection, voicing his disapproval:

“Chairman, kindly stop this act. Chairman, kindly stop this act.”

In response, the Chairman explained, “I am only asking because you seem to be taking the whole day. Honourable members, I think there should be a ceiling on the number of questions leadership is allowed to ask so that we stay focused and efficient. At our next meeting, we need to decide on the number of questions leaders can ask.”

Afenyo-Markin countered, “We should allow a free flow of proceedings, okay? I beg of you, Chairman. Let me proceed.”

As the Ranking Member’s questions continued without clear indication of concluding, the Majority Chief Whip, Governs Agbozda, raised an objection.

He remarked: “May I ask while nobody intends to the hands of the Minority Leader, we cannot also say that the space provided for the Minority Leader means that…I remember, I sat here near Honourable Ato Forson, the former Chair will always insist, how many questions do you have? Honourable Ato Forson will have to declare that I have this number of questions. Is it the only way to satisfy the Minority Leader is to say that as long as he’s got questions he should continue even if it is tomorrow. Chairman, I will suggest, at this point, Chairman, The Minority Leader has had enough time to make his point. So, I think he should be beginning to give an indication as to how far this is going to go.”

In light of this, the Chairman directed Afenyo-Markin to limit himself to three more questions to wrap up the vetting.

However, Afenyo-Markin expressed further discontent: “Honourable Chair, I have been very calm throughout this process. If there is an attempt to disrespect me or create an issue… Chairman, stop that. Stop that. I have been very quiet.”

The Chairman responded: “We have given you all the opportunities in the world and have accommodated you. How can you say I am disrespecting you?”

KA

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