Ellen Ama Daaku, a member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) communications team has said lawmakers in the Eighth Parliament of Ghana behave like “kindergarten children” due to the raucous nature of debates in the House.
The current Parliament is split down the middle between the two main political parties, posing the risk of gridlock on finalising national business, especially when it comes to passing bills.
MPs shouted at each other and engaged in an open brawl in Parliament on 20 December as the First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei-Owusu, vacated his seat to enable him also to cast a vote to pass the controversial E-Levy under a certificate of urgency.
It took the marshals to restore order in the House as they wrestled with a group of MPs to protect the Speaker’s seat, his documents and the mace.
Touching on the current situation in Parliament, Daaku said the behaviour of the MPs has emboldened the Speaker Alban Bagbin to sometimes use certain words on them.
KG kids
“This particular Parliament, sometimes they behave like kindergarten children and having been a kindergarten teacher before, I can see how they behave. It’s just like the older versions of the KG2 and KG1 children. Sometimes this is how they behave with all due respect,” Daaku said on Asaase Radio’s news analysis and current affairs show The Forum.
She added: “I believe that Parliament all these years has operated on mutual respect on both sides because you have a lot of people from different levels of society. So, I expect them to continue like that. But this particular Parliament has been quite innovative in misbehaviour. I mean certain form of misbehaviour that you’ll never have thought that Parliamentarians will be involved in.
“I think that is also what is informing the Speaker’s attitude. As much as I do not agree with some of the words that he uses, this particular Parliament by their behaviour, some of the MPs have given him the reason for him to do what he’s doing. This particular Speaker has a tendency to be a bit authoritarian and I think it also comes from his long stay in Parliament and practically he knows almost everybody in there and all the processes.”
“Parliament is like Makola market”
Meanwhile, the MP for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong, has said Ghana’s Parliament can be likened to a marketplace because there is no order in it.
“There is no decorum,” the maverick politician said on The Asaase Breakfast Show on Tuesday (22 February 2022).
“The way we are handling Parliament is like we’re in Makola – the busiest market at the Central Business District in Accra. It’s all because the numbers are close and in actual fact you don’t even know who’s the Majority, except when you add the independent candidate to it,” Agyapong said, in conversation with Kwaku Nhyira-Addo.
Worst period in Parliament
Agyapong said he no longer has the “zeal” to attend to Parliament because of the chaotic nature of debates.
“What is happening in Parliament is not interesting at all. This is the worst throughout my six terms in Parliament. When I’m going to Parliament I don’t even have the zeal. And nothing is being done about it.
“I’ll entreat my brothers in opposition to compromise and at the same time the government should also compromise, because you can’t be on the defensive all the time. If you do that there’ll be no peace.
“We need to come together in the name of the country and move things forward,” Agyapong said.
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