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Communication and Digitization Minister-designate Ursula Owusu-Ekuful described the incidents before the inauguration of the 8th legislature as a stain on the House’s reputation.
Speaking to Parliament’s Appointments Committee during its audit review on Monday, the minister admitted that the conduct of some MPs at dawn was untoward – conduct that should not be repeated.
“I want to point out that as members of the 8th Parliament, there was a lot that happened on January 7 that none of us are proud of. We cannot be proud. And I have been a member of this Chamber for 3 terms and I have never witnessed an incident like that of January 7, 2021, ”she declared.
“The events of January 7, 2021 are a stain on the reputation of the 8th legislature. And I know that afterwards we all realized that things had gotten out of hand and that we could have acted differently.
The inauguration of the 8th legislature was characterized by several disagreements and some unrest. It all started when Members of Parliament from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) took seats on the majority side in the House before the dissolution of the 7th Parliament.
In what some have described as musical chairs gone awry, the Ablekuma West MP before the heated altercation had taken her seat despite the NDC’s majority takeover.
She insisted on sitting in her seat on the majority side despite calls from NDC MPs to leave her seat and join her colleagues on the minority side of the House.
She subsequently had her seat removed from under her by Ashaiman MP Ernest Henry Norgbey, and in response she chose Mr. Collins Dauda who was seated to her right. In the end, she settled for the tricks of NDC MP for Juaboso, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh.
But defending her action, Ms Owusu-Ekuful said her attack on South Asutifi lawmaker Mr Dauda was a knee-jerk reaction to the initial attack on her. She added, however, that she had apologized to Mr Dauda for the incident but had not yet received an apology from Mr Ernest Norgbey for his actions against her.
“The chair I was sitting on was pulled out from under me and I fell to my knees where I am sitting; so when I got up, instinctively, I made a connection that maybe he (Collins Dauda) was in cahoots with the gentleman who did that.
“And so I said, ‘if you won’t let me sit in my chair, then I won’t let you sit in yours.” “… I apologized to Hon Collins Dauda, I have yet to receive an apology from the Honorable Ernest Norgbey who pulled the chair up and pushed me to my knees,” she said.
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