Member of Parliament of North Tongu, Samuel Okuzeto Ablakwa
The Member of Parliament of North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has condemned the chaos that erupted during the vetting of some ministerial nominees on Thursday, January 30, 2025.
Appearing before the committee investigating the incident on February 7, 2025, he expressed deep disappointment over the turn of events, stressing the need for Members of Parliament to conduct themselves with dignity.
“(I was) terribly disappointed and also embarrassed as a Member of Parliament, because the spectacle, I mean, I believe the title honorable is earned. We earn it by our conduct. And what happened that night was really, really disgraceful, really shameful. And the sad part is that it was the same week that this same Minority Chief Whip had brought up a matter on the floor, at plenary, that he had been called silly by someone, and he would not accept it, and Parliament must be shown respect and all of that. The same week, in just under 48 hours, this kind of conduct. So, I wasn’t surprised,” he stated.
He lamented that the image of Parliament had been brought into disrepute following the incident.
“The next day, there was a lot of bashing of Parliament. And unfortunately, when the bashing is going on, all of us are brought into disrepute and become fair targets. And you can’t blame the general public.
“They say, oh, look at them. When you call them silly, they don’t want to accept it but look at their conduct. Look at how they are misbehaving, you know, and that probably even silly is mild, you know?” he added.
The North Tongu lawmaker emphasised the need for Parliament to restore its credibility.
“I think that we have a lot to do as an institution and as Members of Parliament to reclaim our image and restore our honor and dignity before members of the public. It’s really, really sad that a few of our colleagues will bring Parliament into such disrepute. It’s really, really sad. I don’t think that this institution deserves this kind of image,” he said.
The chaos occurred during the vetting of the Minister of Health-designate, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs-designate, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa. The Minority Caucus accused the Majority of breaching an agreement to vet only four nominees that day, leading to heated exchanges.
Tensions escalated into physical confrontations, resulting in the destruction of microphones and furniture, as well as the overturning of a vetting table.
In response, Speaker Alban Bagbin suspended four Members of Parliament: Frank Annoh-Dompreh (NPP, Nsawam-Adoagyiri), Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor (NDC, South Dayi), Alhassan Tampuli (NPP, Gushegu), and Jerry Ahmed Shaib (NPP, Weija-Gbawe).
A seven-member parliamentary committee, chaired by Ho West MP Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah, has begun public hearings at Parliament to investigate the conduct of the MPs during the vetting session conducted by the Appointments Committee.
Meanwhile, the Speaker has lifted the suspension on the four MPs.
JKB/AE
Also, watch as Afenyo-Markin exposes NPP appointees pretending to be NDC to maintain positions