The Majority leader in Parliament, Honourable Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu has described the fighting incident that disrupted Parliamentary proceedings on Monday, December 20 as shameful.
Addressing the media, the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs said it is unfortunate Members of Parliament traded blows following disagreement on the passage of the E-Levy bill.
Some Majority Members of the House have accused the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Bagbin of deliberately leaving the chambers for them not to have the numbers.
Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said he’s unable to confirm if the Speaker’s action was deliberate but all “we realized was that he had gone home”.
The Majority leader in his address said, Members of Parliament ‘brain with power and not brawl’.
“Yesterday was a day of shame when MPs engaged in fisticuffs. I’m sad, ashamed and embarrassed to be called the Leader of the House.” Majority Leader
Parliament at its resumed sitting to consider the approval or otherwise of the E-Bevy Bill on Monday December 20, 2021 could not take a decision as a result of commotion that characterized voting on the floor of the House following disagreements and proceedings were adjourned.
The House will however resume sitting today, Tuesday December 21, 2021 to decide whether the controversial E-levy Bill should be considered under a Certificate of Urgency or otherwise after it broke into chaos yesterday.
The commotion started when the First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei-Owusu, who was then presiding over proceedings of the House in the absence of the Rt. Hon. Speaker Alban S.K. Bagbin, attempted to also cast his ballot for passage of the Bill under a Certificate of Urgency.
The decision of the First Deputy Speaker to take leave of the Speaker’s chair for the Second Deputy Speaker to take charge to enable him to participate in voting turned chaotic when the Minority National Democratic Congress (NDC) MPs attempted to prevent him from vacating his chair to participate in the headcount voting process.
This resulted in a clash between the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) and opposition NDC sides in Parliament with some MPs throwing their fists while others fell to the ground for proceeding to be adjourned due to the misconduct.
The 25-Member Finance Committee of Parliament had earlier approved the controversial E-Levy Bill for consideration by the House which was done despite the resistance of the Minority NDC members because the Chairman of the Committee voted in favour to break the tie.
Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta presenting the 2022 Budget Statement in November this year announced the new levy to be charged by government in 2022 on all electronic transactions to widen the tax net and rope in the informal sector.
Parliament adjourns sitting to January 18, 2022 to allow for broader consultations on the ‘controversial’ E-Levy bill.
