The Minority in Parliament on Wednesday staged a walkout in protest against a ruling by First Deputy Speaker Bernard Ahiafor, accusing him of using the Standing Orders to frustrate the caucus and undermine Parliament’s oversight responsibilities.
The protest was triggered after the Deputy Speaker disallowed supplementary questions from some Minority Members of Parliament directed at the Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, Samuel Nartey George, regarding the government’s proposed SIM re-registration exercise.
Mr Ahiafor ruled that the questions were inconsistent with the Standing Orders of the House.
Addressing journalists after the walkout, Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin alleged that the First Deputy Speaker had repeatedly invoked parliamentary rules in a manner that prevented Minority MPs, particularly backbenchers, from effectively scrutinising government policies.
“We have observed that the First Deputy Speaker has a way of using the rules to stampede parliamentary oversight,” he said.
“You’ve all observed that he started an attack on our backbenches. Any time our backbenchers had the opportunity to be on their feet, he would use the rules to frustrate them.”
Mr Afenyo-Markin maintained that the supplementary questions on the proposed SIM re-registration exercise were legitimate because they sought clarification on the cost and implementation of the policy, matters he said were of public interest.
He questioned the rationale behind conducting another SIM registration exercise after the Minister had indicated that subscribers would not bear any cost.
“They claim that people use unverifiable identities to get SIM registration cards. Our question is, at what cost? How many people were identified to have used stolen IDs?” he asked.
“It’s the interest of the Ghanaian public to know how much it is costing the nation. In any event, the previous registration came at a cost, so we need to know what procurement processes are being followed.”
The Minority Leader further argued that the Deputy Speaker had misapplied the Standing Orders, insisting that Rule 89(1) permits Members of Parliament to ask supplementary questions based on a minister’s response for the purpose of clarification.
“This is a government policy, and the rules under 89(1) allow you to anchor your supplementary question on an answer given by the Minister for the purpose of clarification,” he said.
Mr Afenyo-Markin explained that the walkout was intended to register the Minority’s dissatisfaction with the Deputy Speaker’s handling of proceedings rather than disrupt parliamentary business.
“This is just our protest. We protested the posture of the First Deputy Speaker using the rules to frustrate us,” he stated.
He clarified that the Minority would return to the Chamber to participate in the day’s remaining business.
“We’re going back into the chamber to deal with other business. We protested his posture on this very matter, and that is it,” he added.
