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The Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has suspended four lawmakers for two weeks following a violent altercation during a ministerial screening session on Thursday.
The suspended lawmakers, Rockson Dafeamakpor, Frank Annor-Dompreh, Alhassan Tampuuli, and Jerry Shai, were on Friday penalised for what Bagbin described as a “gross affront to the dignity of parliament and a blatant contempt of the House”.
It was gathered that the speaker also announced a two-week suspension of four lawmakers for “contemptus parlamenti in facie parlamenti”.
The clash occurred during the vetting of ministerial nominees from the ruling National Democratic Congress.
Lawmakers from the opposition New Patriotic Party accused the vetting committee of rushing the process, while NDC members alleged that the opposition was deliberately stalling proceedings with prolonged questioning.
Tensions reached a breaking point when NPP’s leader in parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, questioned Samuel George, the nominee for communications minister, for over five hours.
The prolonged interrogation led to frustration among committee members, triggering the brawl.
Furniture was overturned, microphones were destroyed, and lawmakers exchanged blows.
A special seven-member committee has been tasked with investigating the incident and is expected to submit its report within 10 days.
Additionally, the cost of repairs for damaged parliamentary property will be deducted from the allowances of those found responsible.
This marks the third time in four years that Ghana’s lawmakers have resorted to physical confrontations during legislative proceedings.
Similar incidents occurred in 2021 during the election of a new speaker and later that year during debates on the electronic transaction levy bill.
