General News of Friday, 8 January 2021

Source: mynewsgh.com

MPs were behaving like teenagers – Boakye Agyarko on Speaker election fracas

There was chaos in Ghana's Parliament during the election of a Speaker There was chaos in Ghana's Parliament during the election of a Speaker

Former Energy Minister, Boakye Agyarko, has described Members of Parliament(MPs) as pubescent [teenage] boys and girls who misconducted themselves and therefore must be corrected.

According to the former Director of Campaign of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, he was saddened and dismayed by the misconduct of the MPs prior to their swearing-in on Thursday dawn to commence work of the Eight Parliament under the Fourth Republic.

“I was saddened and dismayed by the misconduct of members of parliament. This is an August House which some sacrosanct because it is reposed within them to misconduct themselves, but is the dignity of Ghanaians as a whole that matters,” he said in an interview monitored by MyNewsGh.com.

“So, I did not expect them to degenerate into pubescent boys and girls. They [MPs] could do better and they must forswear from today to do better because they hold our dignity”. He lambasted

“My appeal to them is that we all make mistakes, there has been a degenerative attitude which must be corrected. And it is up to them [MPs] to correct it and uphold their dignity,” he further noted.

Confusion broke out in parliament on Thursday dawn leading to the snatching of ballots while the lawmakers were in the process of electing a speaker.

In the raging confusion which resulted in fisticuffs between members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP), armed military were deployed into the main chamber in order to allow for sanity to prevail.

The action of the lawmakers has been condemned by a section of Ghanaians who accuse them of bringing of the important arms of government into disrepute considering the turn of events.