Deputy Majority Leader in Parliament Alexander Afenyo-Markin has accused the new Minority leadership in the Legislature of embarking on wild goose chase to impress the national executives of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Minority leader Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson and his team, he noted, are eager to make a point that they have arrived so the leadership at the party headquarters will take notice.
Mr. Afenyo-Markin made the accusation when the Minority caucus accused the majority of attempting to smuggle a Constitutional Instrument (CI) presented by the Electoral Commission (EC) into the business of the House.
The new CI), titled Public Elections (Registration of Voters) Regulations, 2021, is expected to regulate continuous voter registration in the country.
It is also seeking to make the Ghana Card the sole form of identification for eligible voters who want to get onto the electoral roll.
However, the minority NDC is resisting the use of Ghana card as the only form of identification.
Business statement
During presentation of the Business Statement for the ensuing week on Friday, Minority Leader Ato Forson raised an objection that the statement read by Deputy Majority leader was not a true reflection of what transpired at the Business Committee meeting.
According to him, introduction of the CI as outlined in the business statement was surprising because it was not even captured in the draft statement distributed to members that attended the meeting.
“I have seen introduction of a CI that was never discussed at the Business Committee meeting and for the Deputy Majority leader who did not attend the meeting to stand here and make a pronouncement that this was agreed upon is shocking.
“I am deeply disappointed in the clerks for allowing this to be smuggled into the business committee statement, Mr. Speaker this can never be allowed”, he stated.
However, addressing the media afterwards Afenyo-Markin accused his colleagues of courting the trust of the Chairman of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah so he will know they are doing the job he gave them.
According to him, as part of politics he understands but stressed there is no need to split heads over some of these matters.
He denied the accusation that the Majority attempted to smuggle the CI into business of the House and argued that the Business Statement is only a recommendation of what the House intends to do.
Items that appear in the Business Committee report, he said, do not necessarily come on the Order Paper and stressed there is a difference between having an item on the Order Paper and giving an indication of something to be done in the report.
The Majority, he said, has agreed to engage the Minority over the matter.
Mr. Afenyo-Markin explained that the Electoral Commission has a mandate per the Constitution to come up with a CI to regulate its work.
He cited the case of Benjamin Ayi Mensah vs the Electoral Commission in which the Supreme Court suspended the district assembly elections for nearly a year because the Commission did not have a CI to regulate it.
“So having a CI for carrying a mandate of the Commission is very critical. If we are not careful we may not be able to conduct this year’s district assembly election. So it is our collective interest as a nation to resolve this matter.
