By: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
The Chairman of the Appointments Committee and First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Bernard Ahiafor, has accused the Minority Leader, Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, of orchestrating the disruptions that marred the ministerial vetting on Thursday, 30 January 2025.
Appearing before the committee investigating the incident on Wednesday, February 5, the Akatsi South MP expressed his disappointment at what he described as the unexpected and disruptive conduct of some members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) minority caucus.
He alleged that the chaotic scenes during the vetting were directly influenced by instructions from Mr. Afenyo-Markin.
“I heard the Minority leader requesting that they should call some people into the vetting room, and in no time, I saw people walking into the room, and that very day minority leader was so harsh to the second deputy whip, Jerry Shaib.
I intend not to repeat the words that were used against him. And so I realised that they were under some instruction from their leader to do certain things,” he told the investigative committee,” Mr. Ahiafor told the committee.
According to him, the disruptions escalated as NPP members switched off microphones and caused damage to parliamentary equipment.
“To some extent, I did not understand what they really wanted. Before I could realise, somebody said something in Twi, and they started pulling the cables, and there was pandemonium. The whole place became very hostile. I was so surprised by the incident of that day, and I was just sitting down looking at them,” the Chairman of Parliament’s Appointments Committee said.
