Barely three days ago, the whole of Parliament was up in arms with the Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Petroleum Commission, Emeafa Hardcastle, over some invectives she threw at the Minority Chief Whip, Frank Annoh-Dompreh.

The entire Parliament took umbrage at her use of the word ‘silly’ in reference to Annoh-Dompreh, who had forcefully maintained that the Minority Caucus in Parliament was not going to allow the vetting of Dr. Edward Omane Boamah due to a supposed lack of quorum.

Parliamentarians were baying for blood, including prison terms, as they believed that the conduct of Emeafa Hardcastle was not only an attack on Annoh-Dompreh but the entire house.

Less than 72 hours after that episode, the Appointments Committee, which is an extension of Parliament, conducted itself in ways that more or less confirmed the silly tag slapped on one of its leaders, Annoh-Dompreh.

Videos and photos of Annoh-Dompreh, Mustapha Ussif, and Jerry Ahmed hauling insults and lifting chairs to prevent the Majority caucus from undertaking the vetting of the Minister-designate of Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, were reminiscent of the January 8, 2021 ‘day of shame’ where our Parliamentarians showed that they believed more in brawn than brain.

The incident on Thursday, January 30, 2025, was a humiliating one that should concern Parliament and its leadership more than the comments of people like Emeafa Hardcastle and Oliver Barker-Vormawor.

What is even more disturbing is how the Macro-Majority NDC is allowing itself to be dragged into the mud by the shenanigans of the leader of the micro-minority, Alexandre Afenyo-Markin.

When Ghanaians went to the polls and gave the NDC a huge majority in Parliament, they did so in appreciation of the fact that the previous Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government had destroyed almost every sector of the country and that to right these wrongs, John Dramani Mahama would need a Parliament that could easily fast-track its work.

However, what we have seen so far, especially on the Appointments Committee, is an exhibition of weak and duckling leadership that has allowed the micro-minority to lead the conversation and have their way through instead of the macro-majority.

The Appointments Committee, under the leadership of Chairman Bernard Ahiafor, has shown gross incompetence so far, and it is their over-pampering of the NPP caucus that culminated in the shameful events witnessed on Thursday night.

While I understand the NDC caucus’ strategy of using diplomacy to resolve issues, it is difficult not to notice that the NPP micro-minority is not interested in consensus building but rather fixated on using the vetting process to galvanize their grassroots by being disruptive and distractive.

Anyone who has watched the proceedings of the committee so far would notice that the NDC is being played by the NPP, who seem to have a superior strategy up their sleeve.

The news stories of Friday, January 31, are not about how the eloquent and brilliant Sam George dribbled Afenyo-Markin during his sitting. They are not about how the brainy Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor used his expertise in the law to guide Sam George out of trouble. They are about how the micro-minority used the chaos to stop the NDC from vetting Kwabena Mintah Akandoh and Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, who were Minister of Health-designate and Minister of Foreign Affairs-designate, respectively.

The events of Thursday should mark the final time the NDC will try to jaw-jaw with Afenyo and his cohorts. There is absolutely no need to seek audience and conclave with people who are bent on being disruptive and using strategy to advance their cause.

The NDC members on the Appointments Committee must wake up and save the John Dramani Mahama administration from the mischief of Afenyo-Markin and his assigns.