Afenyo-Markin is acting out of frustration – Ahiafor

The Chairman of the Appointments Committee of Parliament. Bernard Ahiafor, has pointed to frustration on the part of the Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin for his recent outbursts over disagreements during their work.

He said the “overbearing attitude” being displayed by Mr Afenyo-Markin is borne out of frustration from the outcome of the December 7 election.

“It is rather unfortunate that the Minority side are still bleeding from the election wound, because their number was not expected by them,” he told TV3’s Alfred Ocansey during an exclusive interview on February 3.

“For me, he (Afenyo-Markin) is acting out of frustration as a result of the election defeat. They are bleeding from the election defeat,” Mr Ahiafor stressed.

His comment comes in the wake of disruptions in the work of the Committee and the resultant suspension of 4 members of Parliament by the Speaker Alban Bagbin. The affected members are; Rockson Dafeamekpor, Jerry Ahmed Shaib, Hassan Tampuli and Frank Annor Dompreh.

The suspension of the members was necessitated by chaotic scenes witnessed on January 30 when members of the Minority protested the continuation of the vetting exercise. They cited exhaustion at 10:00pm, having worked they whole day.

However, members of the Majority disagreed and decided to proceed with vetting more nominees. The disagreement degenerated into pushing and shoving, leading to destruction of microphones and tables.

Subsequently, the Minority members have condemned the decision by Speaker Bagbin to suspend 3 of their members. They described it as “unlawful.”

They have also described the Clerk to the Committee as “partisan” and want her removed.

Mr. Ahiafor said, the Clerk to the Committee will not be removed.

“I will not recommend removal of the Clerk. Actually, I want to apologise on behalf of the Committee to her,” he said.

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