The Appointments Committee descended into chaos on Thursday evening as tensions flared between members of the Minority and Majority, leading to a heated confrontation. The clash escalated to the point where tables and microphones were destroyed, prompting the intervention of the police to restore order and prevent further destruction.
The Majority insisted on proceeding with the vetting session beyond 10 PM, but the Minority strongly opposed the move, declaring that they were done for the day. Members of the Minority started to lose the arranged tables and in the process, most of the microphones fell off and got broken.
After about 30 minutes of confusion, Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga and other leaders stepped in and calmed tempers. He announced that with the tables broken and microphones destroyed, sitting can’t continue forcing the Committee to reschedule for tomorrow.
Mr. Ayariga apologized for the unfortunate incident and promised the MPs would be of good behavior when sitting resumes tomorrow. Speaking after the disruptions, Afenyo-Markin defended the Majority’s stance, insisting that nothing would stop them from asking the “necessary questions” during the vetting process.
“You are aware that some of the nominees, we don’t even ask them questions. Where we have to ask the relevant questions, we ask. Nothing will stop us from asking the necessary questions,” he said. He accused the Majority of attempting to intimidate the Minority, stating, “NDC is always out to intimidate people. Always bullying. They can call us a micro-minority. They can say whatever they want to say. We’ve been cooperating with them.”
According to Mr. Afenyo-Markin, an agreement had been reached to vet three nominees, but the Majority later attempted to push for additional nominees without proper consensus.
“Today, we agreed to do three. The committee is on a partisan track. Indeed, she is a typical NDC. She agrees with them and then informs people to come,” he said, without naming names.
Credit: Joy Online