The Majority Chief Whip in Parliament, Nelson-Rockson Dafeamekpor, has criticised the Minority in Parliament for disrupting and causing chaos on January 30 during the Appointments Committee’s proceedings.
He was of the view that the NPP MPs could have boycotted proceedings if they felt aggrieved instead of vandalising parliament property and causing confusion.
Appearing before the ad-hoc committee investigating the disturbance, the legal practitioner and MP for South Dayi told the gathering on Monday, February 10, that the Minority Caucus should have acted differently.
“You could have walked away, but disrupting the vetting process is unacceptable,” he insisted while providing an account of what happened that day.
The chaos erupted when the Minority MPs on the Appointments Committee asked to postpone the vetting of some nominees to the next day, January 31.
The Majority, however, disagreed and insisted the process continued.
This disagreement escalated into a physical altercation between the legislators, with some Minority members disrupting the session by breaking tables and microphones.
The legislators on the Majority side still stood their ground and insisted the vetting must continue, prompting the intervention of the police officers present.
Providing suggestions on curbing such incidents in the future, Mr Dafeamekpor stated: “I think the prudent thing that should be considered by any chairman confronted with a similar situation in the future is to change the venue.”
“That Thursday, if we had moved to the Speaker’s conference room, for instance, I am sure that by the time we had relocated, order would have been restored. I don’t think they would have carried the chaotic scenes to the new committee room. So, a change of venue when confronted with such matters is also very important.”
Meanwhile, the Minority in Parliament has boycotted the ad-hoc committee sitting, suggesting bias on the part of the committee chairman, Emmanuel Bedzrah.
In the latest twist to the back and forth, Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin issued a memo indicating that the Minority Caucus will abstain from the committee’s activities until an intervention by the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin.
They are demanding the removal of Mr. Bedzrah from the committee and his replacement by another chairman before they will appear to testify.
