2021 Parliament in retrospect: Drama, walkouts
The year 2021 will go down in Ghana’s Parliamentary history as most dramatic where two major chaotic scenes were witnessed on the floor of Parliament.
The first incident occurred on the eve of the inauguration of the Eighth Parliament of the Fourth Republic during the election of a new Speaker for the House on January 7, 2021, that resulted in a scuffle.
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The second drama happended when some Minority Members of Parliament (MPs) and their colleagues from the Majority side of the aile engaged in scuffle on December 20, 2021, during proceedings for the passage of the Electronic Transaction Bill (E-Levy), 2021.
These two incidents, which were captured live on television, brought the House into disrepute. The two incidents were condemned by Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), governance and security experts, as well as religious bodies.
These unhealthy developments have been attributed partly to the hung Parliament which has no clear majority or minority.
Many Ghanaians have, therefore, called for consensus-building and behind the scenes engagements before issues are brought to the floor of the House for deliberations.
Recall
The confusion that rocked Parliament on the eve of January 7,2021, started when the National Democratic Congress (NDC) MPs sat on the Majority side of the chamber even before the life of the seventh Parliament could end.
The security personnel came in after some NDC MPs, for the fourth time, disrupted the electoral process of a new Speaker for the House.
Another incident ensued during the counting of the ballot where the NPP MP for Tema West, Mr Carlos Kingsley Ahenkorah, snatched some ballot papers and attempted to run away with them but he was accosted by some NDC MPs.
For the first time in the history of the Parliament of the Fourth Republic, armed military men stormed the Chamber to maintain law and order.
When the dust was settled, Mr Alban Bagbin was elected as Speaker for the Eighth Parliament of the Fourth Republic and was sworn in by the Chief Justice, His Lordship Mr Kwasi AninYeboah.
E-Levy
The second incident occurred on December 20, 2021, a day after Parliament adjourned proceedings. It was to pass the E-Levy, 2021 but proceedings came to an abrupt end when a scuffle broke out between some Minority MPs and their colleagues from the Majority that led to the failure of the House to approve the bill.
Walkouts
The House during the year under review also witnessed walkouts. Minority MPs staged a walkout on June 23, 2021, over the approval of four Deputy Ministers.
They argued their members on the Appointments Committee of Parliament did not take part in the vetting of the nominees.
MPs on the Majority side of Parliament also staged a walkout during processes to approve the 2022 budget in the House on Friday, November 26, 2021.
That followed a disagreement over a directive by the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban Bagbin, for non-MPs to vacate the Chamber.
While vacating the Chamber, the Majority MPs demanded that the General Secretary of the opposition NDC, Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, who was sitting in the public gallery at the time, must also exit the House. He ignored this request.
That infuriated the Majority MPs, who walked out of the Chamber, leaving only members on the Minority side.
In Ghana’s political history, it was the first time a Majority side has staged a walkout that was often associated with the Minority in Parliament.
Expectations
With Parliament expected to resume sitting on January 25, 2022, it is the hope of many Ghanaians that there would be decorum and consensus building in the House to help consolidate Ghana’s multiparty democracy.