The Chairman of the Appointments Committee of Parliament. Bernard Ahiafor, has apologised to the Clerk to the Committee, Gifty Jiagge-Gobah over comments made against her by the Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Amarkin.
Mr Ahiafor said Mr Jiagge Gobah has not done anything wrong to warrant such verbal attacks from the ranking member of the Committee.
He was reacting to an assertion by Mr Afenyo-Markin that the Clerk to Parliament is partisan.
“She is a typical NDC member. I will report to the Clerk to Parliament to have her removed,” the Minority leader threatened.
Speaking in an interview with TV3’s Alfred Ocansey on February 3, Mr Ahiafor said the allegations against the Clerk are baseless.
“The Clerk is not partisan. Partisan in what manner? What he did to the Clerk is rather unfortunate, it is uncalled for, unbecoming of a member of Parliament,” he said.
The 1st Deputy Speaker explained that, “In Parliament, we have a hierarchy. If a Clerk of Parliament is exhibiting a particular conduct which you are dissatisfied with, the channels are there for you to follow, but not to (mis)behave in the full glare of the cameras like what he did.
“She is a mother, and she has been in this House for 19 years. She doesn’t deserve that, so I expect the Minority Leader to be apologising to the Clerk. He must apologise to the Clerk of the Committee because she doesn’t deserve those words. I want to public to bear with the Clerk. She is really sacrificing for the Committee. We should not be denigrating her before the cameras.
“If they don’t want to work with Gifty Jiagge-Gobah, then they don’t want to work at the appointment Committee because, I, as the Chairman, will never recommend her removal. I won’t do that today or tomorrow. What I even want to do as Chairman is that, if she is listening to me, she should accept my sincerest apology… That is the hallmark of a leader,”
Mr Ahiafor pointed to frustration on the part of 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 Alfred Ocansey.
“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.”
Read also:
Afenyo-Markin instigated Jerry Shaib by calling him “silly” during vetting – Ahiafor
Source:
3news.com
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