Professor Kofi Agyekum, former Head of Linguistics at the University of Ghana, has condemned Members of the 8th Parliament for certain actions he considers as unbecoming of grown men.
Scores of MPs from the Minority Caucus in Parliament went on a marching parade in the august House on Tuesday, October 22.
It started after the Minority assumed the majority position following an order by the Speaker, Alban Bagbin.
The Speaker had declared the seats represented by the MPs for Agona West, Amenfi Central, Fomena and Suhum, as vacant.
The Minority on Tuesday then turned the floor of the House into a parade while the Majority boycotted proceedings to avoid confrontation with their colleagues who currently claims majority in Parliament.
But prior to the above incident, several chaotic scenes have characterized the august House since 2021.
The most notable melee occured during the dissolution of the old Parliament and inauguration of a new one from the night of Wednesday, January 6, 2021, to Thursday, January 7, 2021.
The disruptions in the voting process for a new Speaker of Parliament culminated in the snatching of ballot papers as well as the invasion of military personnel.
The unparliamentary scenes erupted after a governing party deputy tried to seize the ballot box during the vote for Parliament Speaker.
That clash lasted several hours until the army stepped in with national television broadcasting the drama live.
Then on Monday, December 20, 2022, Parliament turned into a fighting arena as the Majority and Minority boxed when the first Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei-Owusu decided to hand over to his Deputy in order to join his colleague MPs to vote on the controversial E-levy.
The MPs had fisticuffs as the Minority refused to allow the first Deputy Speaker to hand over to the second Deputy Speaker while the Majority members acted as his shield by exchanging punches with their opponents.
Commenting on the recent fracas during a media encounter, Prof. Kofi Agyekum, popularly called “Opanin Agyekum”, found this 8th Parliament to be very unserious.
He noted that this Parliament has been characterized with jokes and unnecessary confrontations, wondering why these MPs cannot replicate the good behavior of their predecessors.
“It is disgraceful. It diminishes our reputation,” he slammed the MPs, adding “there are some people in Parliament that you will ask what are they doing there?”
Source: Richard Nana Appiah Kubi/Ahotoronline.com
