- "If a Deputy Speaker decides to vote [during proceedings] and at the same time play the role of a referee, don’t hesitate to slap him to keep him on track."
The General secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Johnson Asiedu Nketiah has called on Minority MPs to resort to violence in the event the Majority side decides to “bend the rules” to get the controversial E-Levy passed.
“So long as impunity will not stop, resistance has been imposed on us as a duty,” he said while addressing the party’s youth wing in the Ashanti Region over the weekend.
“If a Deputy Speaker decides to vote [during proceedings] and at the same time play the role of a referee, don’t hesitate to slap him to keep him on track.
“If President Akufo-Addo wants sanity to prevail in Parliament, he should just allow the laws and the democratic institutions to work”, he said.
Free-for-all in Parliament
MPs shouted at each other and engaged in open fisticuffs in Parliament on the evening of the Monday before Christmas (20 December) as the First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei-Owusu, left his seat to enable him also to cast a vote to pass the controversial E-Levy under a certificate of urgency.
The Minority contended that, under the standing orders of Parliament, Osei-Owusu, who was presiding yesterday, could not vote. However, the sit-in Speaker insisted that he had the right to vote and would do so.
The free-for-all ensued on the Speaker’s platform as Minority MPs attempted to seize his chair as he made his way out of the chamber in order for the Second Deputy Speaker, Andrews Amoako Asiamah, to take over.
The marshals had a tough time restoring order in the House as they wrestled with a group of MPs to protect the Speaker’s seat, his documents and the mace.
We’re not ready to resubmit E-Levy
Joseph Osei-Owusu, the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, says the government is still carrying out stakeholder engagements on the Electronic Transaction Levy (E-Levy) Bill, hence its inability to resubmit the draft legislation before Parliament.
His comments come after the Minority in the House fumed over the Majority’s failure to present the bill in the House this week.
But Osei-Owusu said Parliament’s business committee is working to schedule the debate for the second week of February.
Speaking to Beatrice Adu on The Big Bulletin on Thursday (3 February 2022), the First Deputy Speaker declared: “We are simply not ready [to resubmit the bill to Parliament]. You see that public hearing is ongoing across the country.”
Asaase Radio 99.5 – tune in or log on to broadcasts online
99.5 in Accra, 90.7 in Ho, 98.5 in Kumasi, 99.7 in Tamale, 89.5 in Tarkwa, and 106.9 in Walewale
Follow us on Twitter: @asaaseradio995
#AsaaseRadio
#TheVoiceofOurLand
