Punish recalcitrant MPs responsible for the chaos in parliament -ACEPA demands
Punish recalcitrant MPs responsible for the chaos in parliament -ACEPA demands
The African Centre for Parliamentary Affairs (ACEPA) has called for strict sanctions against Members of Parliament (MP) responsible for the destruction of property during the Appointments Committee sitting on Thursday, January 30, 2025.
The violent altercation, which saw lawmakers engage in heated confrontations, has led to growing concerns about the ability of the Appointments Committee to effectively fulfill its constitutional mandate.
The unrest began when the Minority in Parliament proposed rescheduling the vetting process to today, Friday, January 31, citing procedural concerns and an unfavourable atmosphere for a fair assessment.
However, the Majority strongly opposed the proposal, insisting that the vetting should proceed as planned.
Speaking in an interview with an Accra-based Citi Breakfast Show (CBS) on Friday, January 31, 2025, the Executive Director of ACEPA, Dr Rasheed Draman, condemned the disorderly conduct and stressed the need for accountability.
The Executive Director of ACEPA was of the view that such acts of lawlessness would persist if no concrete actions were taken against the MPs responsible for the destruction.
Dr Draman referenced a similar chaotic incident in 2021, which occurred during the election of Speaker Alban Bagbin.
He cautioned that if punitive measures were not enforced, such lawlessness would become a regular occurrence in Parliament.
He has thus urged the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin, to take decisive action by considering the dissolution of the current Appointments Committee.
“If I was to advise the Speaker of Parliament, I would say, looking to the rules, dissolve the committee and set some examples and let some people pay for their sins if the rules allow it and then you reconstitute the committee and then vetting can continue even if it has to take some days or weeks.
Because the way this committee is constituted, I don’t think we can rely on it to do a proper job of confirming those who have been nominated by the President,” Dr Draman noted.
