‘Rude’ Sefwi-Wiaso MP Driven Out of Parliament by Speaker
The Speaker of Parliament, Rt Hon Alban Sumana Bagbin was forced to drive out of the plenary the Member of Parliament for Sefwi-Wiaso, Dr Kwaku Afriyie, following “rude and disrespectful” comments.
This emanated from some directions by the Speaker for the approval or otherwise of two nominations to the Supreme Court by President Nana Addo Dakwa Akufo-Addo.
In his submission on July 22, the Speaker said, “Please you have to apply the new standing orders in this matter…In giving you the information, I gave you the idea of the expectations of the people of Ghana.
“That is for you to consider as part of the report and it’s for the house to decide as to whether we will approve or disapprove those nominations. His Excellency clearly stated that he is constitutionally injuncted to do what he has done so it’s now for you to also look at it.”
The representative from Sefwi-Wiawso quickly reacted to the statement by the Speaker asserting, “I believe that as representative of the good people of Sefwi-Wiawso, it does not lie in your mouth to remind us of the things that you said.”
His comment did not go down well with the speaker who condemned it as rude and disrespectful and ordered the marshals to walk the lawmaker out of the plenary.
“This is a completely rude remark and I can send you out of the house now in light of my authority to do so. You represent the good people of Sefwi-Wiaso, I represent the whole country. Please, Marshal, take him out of the house. I will not tolerate such disrespect.”
The Majority Chief Whip, Frank Annoh-Dompreh, quickly responded to the situation and apologized to the Speaker for the conduct of their member.
“So, I want to, on behalf of the entire caucus and my colleagues, render my apologies to you and your office, and we hope that this draws the curtains, and let’s bring matters into, we are very sorry, we apologize sincerely for what happened. I say this on behalf of the member, and also on behalf of the entire caucus, we are sorry.”
