West African Parliamentary Journalists Demand Probe Into Clash In Parliament

An association of Parliamentary journalists in the West African sub-region, the West African Parliamentary Press Corps (WAPPC) has called for a probe into the clashes that happened in Ghana’s Parliament during the election of a Speaker.

In a statement issued Thursday in Abuja, Nigeria, Mr. Ezrel Tabiowo, President of WAPPC said a probe was very important to expose and deal with the issues that led to the legislative turmoil in West Africa’s most stable democracy.

“The clash in parliament during the election of its Speaker, presents a clear and present danger that the bastion of the country’s democracy has been infiltrated by unpatriotic elements determined to override the country’s democratic ideals in favour of the realization of self-serving political interests.
“The new leadership of Ghana’s Parliament at this critical moment must, therefore, rise to the occasion by embarking on mending fences among MPs split along political lines, with a view to reducing the risk of a possible parliamentary gridlock on key economic matters to be considered in a bid to stabilise Ghana’s economy from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Effort must also be made to investigate the clash, as well as sanction all those involved, so as to prevent future breakdown of law and order in parliamentary activities that would undermine the deepening of democracy in Ghana,” Tabiowo wrote.

During the Speakership election, MPs from both the National Democratic Congress and the New Patriotic Party engaged in brawls and a point, fisticuffs over alleged attempts to rig the election.

An NPP MP, Carlos Ahenkorah even snatched ballot papers and chew some in effort to scuttle the election. Nonetheless, a new Speaker was elected in the person of the NDC’s Rt. Hon. Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin.

WAPPC congratulated Hon. Bagbin: “The membership of the West African Parliamentary Press Corps (WAPPC) congratulates the newly elected Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana, Rt. Hon Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin.

Tt added, however, that, “Sadly, same cannot be said of the election process which degenerated into a clash among MPs. This, in our view, represents and contradicts how Ghana is perceived by country states within the West African sub-region.