In the immediate aftermath of the Supreme Court’s ruling on the petition by some New Patriotic Party (NPP) Members of Parliament for the stay of the ruling by the Speaker of Parliament that some four MPs can no longer hold themselves as lawmakers, Governs Kwame Agbodza, the Member of Parliament for Adaklu constituency, posted on X, formerly Twitter, that “The Supreme Court may have to come to parliament to enforce the bizarre ruling.”

While Agbodza made the statement in his personal capacity, it appears that it is the position of the entire NDC caucus in Parliament, as the MP for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga, issued a similar threat on TV3, warning that “we shall see on Tuesday.”

Comments by leading NDC members like Sammy Gyamfi and Alhassan Suhuyini suggest that the NDC MPs could defy the directive by the Supreme Court and hold themselves as members of the majority caucus.

The NPP, on the other hand, maintains that by virtue of the Supreme Court’s ruling, they have the legitimacy to hold themselves as members of the majority caucus.

Per parliamentary practice over the years, the seating arrangements are determined by which party is deemed to be the majority or minority. With both parties now claiming to be the majority, Tuesday, October 22, 2024, is expected to be yet another controversial day in the history of the Eighth Parliament.

As Ghanaians wait to see if NDC and NPP MPs will be fighting over which side of the house they should sit on Tuesday, GhanaWeb reminds the country of five things that happened the last time MPs fought over seating positions.

How NDC took over the majority side of the house before the dissolution of the 7th Parliament

At the end of the December 7, 2020 elections, the NDC believed that they won the majority of seats in Parliament. Therefore, when Parliament resumed for the dissolution of the seventh Parliament on the night of January 6, 2021, MPs on their side sat on the side of the house usually reserved for the majority.

This created drama as the NPP MPs who arrived later felt that they deserved to sit on that side as they had the majority.

As it emerged later, neither party had the majority, but the NPP were accorded the position of ‘majority group’ because the MP for Fomena, who was an independent candidate, opted to do business with them.

Ursula’s lap dance

In the heat of the melee over seating positions, the Member of Parliament for Ablekuma West was spotted sitting on the lap of Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, the MP for Juaboso.

In a Joy News interview, Akandoh explained how the viral photo of Ursula sitting on his lap came about.

“When the NPP MPs came in, they saw that we were on the right side, so they went to the left, but Ursula refused. Cletus Avoka was sitting down and decided to go to the washroom. By the time he came back, Ursula had taken his seat. We tried to persuade her, but she declined. She also left the seat, and I sat on it. When she came, she just sat on my lap. She didn’t say anything to me; she just sat, and I didn’t say anything,” he said.



Ursula fights Collins Dauda

Prior to sitting on the lap of Akandoh, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful was already in the news for a scuffle with Collins Dauda, the MP for Asutifi South.

Ursula Owusu-Ekuful was spotted shoving Collins Dauda in the heat of the fight over seats in the house. She later revealed that she apologised to Collins Dauda, but the claim was denied by the Asutifi South MP.



Election of Bagbin

The chaos of the night of January 6 and the dawn of January 7, 2021, reached a crescendo during the election for the Speaker of Parliament for the 8th Parliament.

Due to the closeness of the numbers in the house, the exercise became a tense one with both sides of the house determined to win the election, which was between incumbent speaker, Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye, and veteran lawmaker, Alban Bagbin.

Alban Bagbin emerged victor of the polls, but the process was hit with the controversy of Carlos Ahenkorah snatching and chewing ballot papers.

Soldiers storm chamber

For the first time under the Fourth Republic, military men stormed the chamber of parliament.

The soldiers, numbering about 20, emerged in the Chamber together with armed policemen ostensibly to restore calm.

The well-armed security detail, with some having facemasks, came to the floor of Parliament, reportedly on the orders of the former Minister of Defence, Dominic Nitiwul.



EK