The NDC began what was an apparently spontaneous silent protest in Parliament yesterday in objection to a ruling that essentially placed a temporary gagging order on Mr. M. Mumuni whilst he is in front of the house.

The Speaker, the Rt. Hon. Mr Peter Ala Adjetey, had ordered Mr. Mumuni to remain silent after he had failed to produce any evidence to support his claim that the NPP had admitted to having a programme in place designed to destabilise the NDC by putting each of its former Ministers on trial one by one.

Mumuni's allegations were directed towards comments allegedly made by Mr. J.H. Mensah, and are believed to be based on an article printed in The Evening News, which the NDC says will back up its claims.

The NPP objected, however, protesting that Mr. Mensah had said no such thing. At this point, the Speaker asked Mr. Mumuni for direct quotes, which is established parliamentary procedure when allegations of this nature are made. Mr. Mumuni, though, was only able to produce "words to that effect". The Speaker thus asked Mr. Mumuni to withdraw the statement until he was able to find the quotes he had referred to, at which point he could repeat himself.

After some deliberation, however, Mr. Mumuni quietly informed the Speaker that, "with all due respect, I cannot withdraw the statement."

Mr. Adjetey deemed this "an affront to the authority of the Speaker", and so ordered Mr. Mumuni to remain silent and seated for the rest of the session.

It was in response to this order that the NDC Members of Parliament decided to refuse to speak, meaning that the rest of the continuing debate on the President's State Address was an entirely one sided affair.

Eventually, so many NPP Members simply left that a quorum was invoked (whereby Parliament cannot deliberate with less than a third of its members present) and the session finished early.

Shortly before this, the saga had threatened to take another twist as Minority Leader Mr. Alban Bagbin marched into the Chamber brandishing the allegedly incriminating newspaper as if it were a stick with which he wished to beat the NPP with. After a few minutes, though, he apparently thought better of it, and rose to leave himself.

The NDC is gaining a reputation for parliamentary protests - last year, the party staged a walk out when voting began on the National Reconciliation Bill.

Although not in the same league, the Speaker informed the House that Mr. Mumuni's errant behaviour would be reported to the committee for parliamentary standards, which would decide whether to take any further action.