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Parliamentary proceedings were yesterday characterized by dramatic exchanges and the virtual appearance of former President Jerry John Rawlings and the Ghana 2008 striker Junior Agogo on the floor of the House. |
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It took the intervention of the First Deputy Speaker, then holding fort for Speaker Sekyi-Hughes, to restore order and get Ms. Akua Dansua, NDC MP South Dayi and Mr. Simon Osei-Mensah, NPP MP for Bosumtwi to leave each other’s throat.
This was during the debate on the President’s recent State of the Nation Address, an occasion which saw the Bosumtwi MP making a presentation on the achievements of the NPP administration.
Ms. Akua Dansua would not take the elaborate recounting of the achievements by her colleague who explained that the successful hosting of the recent continental soccer fiesta reunited families as evidenced by the former President and Junior Agogo, said to be his nephew.
The MP did not stop there but went on to add that the construction of four stadia in the country was another feather in the cap of the NPP administration, noting that so beautiful is one of the stadia that ‘someone’ was unable to differentiate between the popular stand and the VIP stand.
Hon Mahama Ayariga, MP for Bawku Central did not take kindly to this and the reference to former President Rawlings. His intervention attracted the attention of his colleagues, especially as he explained that the former President did not miss his way but went to the popular stand on purpose, desiring to be with the ordinary people.
But he was checked in his argument when the NPP MP asked why Prof John Evans Atta Mills did not also go to the ordinary people but rather headed for the VIP stand.
It was the display of the Rawlings and Agogo picture and the mention of the solution to the electricity problem at the House which prompted Ms Akua Dansua into action.
Her colleague had recalled that once upon a time when the House was hit by a power outage, MPs on the other side chorused “We want generators, we want generators”. Now that the problem had been solved, he asked that his colleagues on the other side refrain “We have light, we have light.”
He added this to buttress further his position that the incumbent political administration has come a long way.
A now agitated Ms. Akua Dansua described her colleague as being a clown, and stated that the House is a serious place.
Mr. Kwabena Okerchire, Majority Chief Whip sought the intervention of the Speaker because according to him the language used by Ms. Dansua was unparliamentary.
Mr. Freddie Blay, First Deputy Speaker intervened to restore order.
When the Chief Whip repeated his reservation about the language, it was eventually withdrawn, but not before he remarked thus: “I feel very sorry that she continues using this language, more so when she belongs to the leadership of the House”.
She had earlier expressed regret that the Deputy Speaker was not being fair to her. She told the Deputy Speaker that she would make a conditional apology but he rejected that, and eventually she apologized.
In another surreal development on the floor of the House, the Deputy Speaker disallowed Mr. Kofi Frimpong, NPP MP for Kwabre East from making a contribution because of what he described as his unparliamentary dressing.
He had earlier asked the Marshal to take the MP out of the Chamber, but later asked that he should sit at the back of the Chamber.
The MP was dressed in casual African wear but when he returned later, he wore a coat over the African wear. |
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