The Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has defended the Minority’s protest during the vetting of Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa and Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, attributing it to a lack of dialogue.
The vetting session on Thursday, January 30, 2025, witnessed clashes between Minority and Majority MPs, creating heightened tensions in Parliament.
Matters worsened when the Speaker of Parliament suspended three NPP MPs and one NDC MP over disagreements about continuing the vetting on January 31.
In response, the Minority staged a walkout, leaving the Majority to vet Ablakwa and other nominees. This came after Afenyo-Markin had subjected Ablakwa to hours of questioning.
On February 4, 2025, Afenyo-Markin addressed Parliament, providing context to the events. He stated, “On Thursday, January 30, as per the practice, we had agreed to proceed to vet some four nominees. Originally, we were supposed to do three, but this changed to five.”
“Around 10:pm, we had indications from the majority of the intent to continue the vetting of more nominees rather than agreed.
“There was no room for us to discuss the way forward, which resulted in our decision as the minority to protest. Our intention was to have a peaceful protest to express our displeasure at the excesses of our colleagues in the majority.”
He acknowledged that the situation got out of hand during the protest, assuring to work with the speaker to uphold the dignity and integrity of the House,
The Speaker Alban Bagbin lifted the ban on the four MPs after both the majority leader and minority leader appealed to him.
