The Speaker of Parliament Professor Mike Aaron Oquaye is being manipulated by Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, Ahmed Ibrahim, Member of Parliament for Banda and First Deputy Minority Chief Whip, has said.
According to him, the Majority Leader’s hold on the Speaker has led Prof Oquaye to be biased against the Minority.
His comments come on the heels of a similar allegation made by Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu that former Speaker Edward Doe Adjaho is micro-managing the Minority in Parliament.
The Majority Leader had said Mr Adjaho is hiding behind the scenes and directing affairs in parliament through the Minority, hence the entrenched position of the Minority on issues on the floor of the House.
Speaking to Class News’ parliamentary correspondent Ekow Annan, after a heated encounter between Prof Oquaye and Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu regarding the number of questions that should be asked Ministers when they appear in the house, Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said: “You all know how Speaker Adjaho behaved, aren’t you all living witnesses? But we tolerated him.
“I will tell you, the man is behind the scenes, he still wants to control parliament. Do you know what happened yesterday? He even called them (Minority) yesterday and was telling them that when we were meeting the Electoral Commission they should not agree for you, the press, to be present. The man thinks he is still in control.”
But reacting to these comments in an interview with Chief Jerry Forson, host of Ghana Yensom on Accra 100.5FM on Friday July 29, Mr Ibrahim said: “The Majority Leader is controlling the Speaker and that is bad. The Majority Leader is not a lawyer, and, so, his control of the Speaker will lead us into a ditch because he cannot proffer legal opinions.”
He further said: “The Speaker has been biased against us, the Minority, and we are against that. We are going to meet today and discuss the way forward; our official position will be known.”
Source: Ghana/AccraFM.com
