By Emmanuel Nduka
In a shocking display of disorder, Ghana’s parliament erupted into violence late Thursday night during the vetting of new ministerial appointees.
Heritage Times HT reports that tensions between lawmakers reached a boiling point, with MPs from both sides engaging in a physical altercation, pushing and shoving one another, and damaging furniture, tables, and microphones.
The chaos was so intense that police had to intervene to restore order.
The confrontation stemmed from accusations that opposition MPs were deliberately stalling the vetting process for political reasons.
The dispute focused on three ministerial nominees from the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), following the NDC’s victory in December’s elections.
The heated exchange reportedly began when NDC MPs accused the leader of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) in parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, of unnecessarily prolonging the questioning of nominees.
More than five hours were spent questioning just one nominee—Samuel Nartey George, the communications minister-designate.
Many NDC members viewed this as retaliation for George’s criticism of former president Nana Akufo-Addo and vice-president Mahamadu Bawumia.
The situation quickly escalated into shouting, pushing, and overturned furniture.
On Friday morning, the chairman of the vetting committee publicly apologized, calling the incident “totally unacceptable.” Afenyo-Markin defended the NPP’s actions, stating that parliamentary rules allow members to probe nominees in-depth, accusing the NDC of trying to “frustrate” the process.
