The Speaker of the Ghanaian Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has handed down a two-week suspension to four lawmakers after a violent altercation broke out during a ministerial vetting session.
Naija News gathered that the disruption occurred Thursday evening when the ministerial vetting committee members, tasked with screening nominees for the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), clashed during the process.
The conflict escalated to the point where furniture in the parliamentary chamber was destroyed.
The committee, consisting of representatives from various political parties, was responsible for reviewing the qualifications of ministerial nominees.
However, tensions flared when NDC lawmakers accused their New Patriotic Party (NPP) counterparts of deliberately obstructing the proceedings by asking unnecessarily lengthy questions.
A prime example was Samuel Nartey George, NDC’s nominee for communications minister, who endured more than five hours of questioning.
This lengthy interrogation triggered anger from NDC members, who felt it was part of a strategy to delay the process for political gain.
The disagreement eventually erupted into violence, with tables and microphones overturned and committee members engaging in physical confrontations.
On Friday, Speaker Bagbin condemned the disturbance as an insult to the institution of Parliament and a serious act of contempt.
He confirmed the suspension of four lawmakers—Rockson Nelson Etse Kwame Dafeamakpor, Frank Annor-Dompreh, Alhassan Sulemana Tampuuli, and Jerry Ahmed Shaib—for their roles in the chaos.
Bagbin also announced the establishment of a special seven-member committee to investigate the incident.
The committee is expected to present its findings and recommendations within 10 days.
Furthermore, the Speaker revealed that the costs for repairing the damage to Parliament’s property would be deducted from the salaries of the lawmakers responsible for the destruction.
This incident marks the third time in four years that violence has erupted within Ghana’s Parliament.
Previously, fights broke out in 2021 during the election of a new speaker and later that year during a contentious vote on the electronic transaction levy bill.