Majority Chief Whip and Member of Parliament for Nsawam/Adoagyiri, Frank Annoh-Dompreh has revealed that a Minority MP allegedly slashed the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Mustapha Ussif’s face with a blade during an exchange of brawls in the House over the controversial Electronic Transaction Levy Bill, also known as E-Levy on Monday night.
The Nsawam/Adoagyiri MP, who confirmed the incident on Neat Fm condemned the act, and also expressed concern over the incident.
According to him, several Majority members were also heckled by the minority MPs during the free-for-all-fight.
In the case of the Sports Minister, he was seen receiving a hefty slap from a Member on the Minority side.
This came as a result of when the sit-in Speaker, Joseph Osei-Owusu, had announced that he was going to vote as well in his capacity as a Member of Parliament.
But the Majority Chief Whip, Annoh-Dompreh denied such a statement by saying that the Bekwai MP was unwell hence decided to walk out to allow the second Deputy Speaker to take over.
It got the National Democratic Congress party members who are the Minority in Parliament angry and they questioned his decision to vote after presiding over the night’s proceedings.
They hurriedly moved to the front of the dais issuing threats at the Bekwai MP.
This also got the Majority side in Parliament to defend the 1st Deputy Speaker from being harmed and immediately Mr. Osei-Owusu handed over the presiding role to the Second Deputy Speaker, Andrew Amoako Asiamah, fight broke out leading to Mustapha Ussif taking his share of the fight by receiving a hefty slap.
The NDC lawmakers, led by A.B.A Fuseini, Sagnarigu MP and Edwin Nii Lante Vanderpuye, Odododiodio MP, walked over to the podium and attempted to grab the Speaker’s chair but they were prevented by the members of the Majority Caucus.
In the process, a scuffle ensued between the rival lawmakers, degenerating into full-blown fisticuffs.
The parliamentary security officers were seen pouring onto the floor of the House to quell the disturbances, with a bewildered look on the faces of people at the public gallery.
The situation compelled the House to be abruptly adjourned.
The political tensions have run high in the House since the December 7, 2020 elections produced a hung parliament, without a dominant party to push through the business of government, including budget approvals.
Prosecution
Meanwhile, the MP for Akim Swedru, Kennedy Osei Nyarko in a post on his Facebook page noted that “The security outfit of Parliament must as a matter of urgency do everything possible and arrest the said MP who slashed the Sports Minister with an unknown sharp object yesterday night during the scuffles among some MPs”.
He said,”The person must be punished severely to serve as deterrent to the other unruly MPs who are in parliament just for chaos purposes”.
“The security must use the CCTV footage and arrest the person and process him immediately to court. We can disagree on issues and even shout at each other but to slash your colleague in the chamber with an object is enough criminal grounds to be convicted to serve a prison term. I pray the security can identify the person and immediately arrest him,” he added.
BY Daniel Bampoe