Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has condemned Speaker of Parliament Alban S.K Bagbin and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) for actions he claims are driving the nation toward confusion and lawlessness.
His remarks followed another boycott by the Majority caucus, which led to an abrupt adjournment of the House.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) members refused to sit in the Chamber after the NDC side occupied the right-hand side of the Speaker, a section typically reserved for the Majority caucus.
The NDC contends it is now the majority party in Parliament following the Speaker’s ruling to vacate the seats of four MPs who broke ranks with their political parties to contest the 2024 elections as independent candidates.
Addressing the media after the adjournment, a visibly frustrated Afenyo-Markin criticized Speaker Bagbin for allegedly ‘supervising chaos’, confusion, and lawlessness and tarnishing the image of Ghana’s democracy.
According to him, he expected the Speaker to right the wrongs he caused by directing the NDC caucus to go back and occupy the place reserved for the Minority.
“What Mr. Speaker did today amounts to supervising chaos and bringing the image of democracy into disrepute,” he stated.
“It is sad. It is very sad,” he continued, urging the media to call out the Speaker and the NDC for what he described as disruptive behavior aimed at destabilizing the legislative process.
Afenyo-Markin pointed to the absence of his caucus from a Business Committee meeting, asserting that a new committee had not been constituted for the NDC to call such a meeting.
“I chair the Business Committee of Parliament, and when the Clerk to Parliament asked for the Business Committee, I was explicit that there was no need for another committee meeting on this matter,” he stated.
Afenyo-Markin referred to recent tensions with the Speaker’s rulings on the four MPs, which the NPP Majority disagreed with and subsequently challenged in the Supreme Court.
He recalled that Speaker Bagbin assured him, in the presence of the Second Deputy Speaker, that he would await the Supreme Court’s decision, fully aware that the matter was pending.
The Majority Leader alleged that Speaker Alban Bagbin is colluding with the NDC Minority to obstruct important government business, including the Free Senior High School (SHS) bill.
He dismissed opposition criticisms of the Free SHS program, stressing that it has benefited millions of Ghanaians despite facing challenges. He also praised the efforts of former Education Ministers, whom he described as “two doctors” dedicated to reforming the ministry.
Afenyo-Markin accused the NDC of orchestrating a “warpath” agenda and warned that this if left unchecked, could undermine stability in Ghana.
“Clearly, the NDC is on a war path. They want confusion in this country. They want lawlessness in this country. And all these are being supervised by Mr. Speaker,” he claimed.