The House has received a sharp warning from the Minority in Parliament that until the dispute over the Kpandai parliamentary seat is settled, government business will suffer.
The warning came after an unsuccessful attempt to stop the House from conducting any work on Tuesday, November 9, and a protest in the Chamber on the Kpandai seat vacancy notice that Parliament sent to the Electoral Commission.
Whip of the Minority Following Frank Annoh-Dompreh’s formal address to the House in a statement, the Caucus turned to persistent chants in the Chamber, which put an end to work for the day. This resulted in two brief suspensions and the Speaker, Alban Bagbin, taking over the chair.
The Caucus, however, requested that the notification to the EC be immediately withdrawn and that business be postponed until the next day, and his presence did nothing to placate them.
The call for adjournment was rejected by Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga, who maintained that the House had business to attend to and would do so whether or not the Minority members cooperated.
“You can say whatever you want to say, but let me make it very clear to you, you cannot scare me. Whatever I want to say, I’ll say. What can you do?” Hon. Annoh-Dompreh said during the impassioned intervention.
The minority said that while the Kpandai seat is still deemed vacant, the administration cannot expect parliamentary work to proceed smoothly.
“For the record, we want to make it very clear to you that you cannot scare anybody here,” the Whip emphasized. “And until Kpandai is resolved, government business will suffer.”
Based on the Tamale High Court’s decision to void NPP MP Hon. Matthew Nyindam’s election, the Caucus maintained that the Speaker erred in declaring the Kpandai seat vacant. They contended that the issue ought to have awaited the resolution of an appeal.
“We are not doing any business, and we will not cooperate with you until Kpandai is resolved. Government business will suffer, and that is the point,” he said.
“Nobody is going anywhere… we are not moving,” the Chief Whip said in the face of jeers as the Chamber plunged into turmoil and the Majority side threatened to organize a walkout if the Minority were not ready to work.
Despite the Minority’s threats to invade the Majority bench, the Majority side carried on with business, using marshals as a human shield.
Amid cries and uproar from the Minority, the House passed 33 budget projections for several institutions.
Source: newsthemegh.com