The Minority Leader in Ghana’s Parliament, Haruna Iddrisu, has faulted three of Akufo-Addo’s re-appointed Ministers for the excesses of some security officers during the 2020 elections which resulted in the death of some citizens and a subsequent invasion of Parliament by some military officers during the inauguration of the 8th Parliament.
At least five people were killed in election-linked violence in Ghana in the last presidential and parliamentary elections. The Ghana Police Service indicated at a press conference that it had recorded over 60 separate incidents of election-linked violence, “Twenty-one of the incidents are true cases of electoral violence, six of which involve gunshots resulting in the death of five.”
According to the Minority Leader, the re-appointed Ministers for National Security, Defense and Interior, Albert Kan Dapaah; Dominic Nitiwul; and Ambrose Derry respectively, must be made to account for these excesses because they were in charge of the security sectors of the state at the time and must bear ultimate responsibility.
“So, for the three Ministers that are being proposed for National Security, Defense and Interior, we are demanding answers to those lives that were lost on December 7th; We are demanding answers as to what transpired on the Floor of Parliament; which has certainly become a blot on the conscience of Ghana’s democracy under their watch,” he said.
The Minority Leader who also doubles as the Ranking Member on the Appointment Committee of Parliament, made the demands on the Floor of Parliament during the debate on the first report of the Appointment Committee and the subsequent approval of the president’s ministerial nominees.
The Member of Parliament for the Tamale South constituency is also demanding accountability for the incident which occurred on the Floor of Parliament where some military officers invaded the Chamber of Parliament during the inauguration of the 8th Parliament and the election of the Speaker.
Haruna Iddrisu described the action of the military as tantamount to coup d’état and a blot on the country’s democracy.
“Mr. Speaker, the three Ministers of National Security, Defense and Interior, did fail us woefully when they had to invite the military into this Chamber. It has never happened. It was more or less a coup d’état on our democracy on the Floor of Parliament. We need assurance from them that this will never happen in our democracy again. This has never happened before and yet no one is being punished for it,” he said.
The three Minister Designates in addition to other 10 Minister Designates have since been approved by the House to assist the President in the administering of the state for his second term in office.
Source: Clement Akoloh||parliamentnews360.com
