Frank Annoh-Dompreh, the Majority Chief Whip, has proposed that parliamentarians who engage in brawling in the House be prosecuted.

MPs shouted at each other and engaged in open fighting in Parliament on the evening of 20 December 2021 as the First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei-Owusu, left his seat to enable him also to cast a vote to pass the controversial E-Levy under a certificate of urgency.

Although both sides of the House have condemned the incident, Parliament is yet to punish any MP caught in the act.

According to Annoh-Dompreh, MPs caught engaging in fisticuffs must be made to face the full rigours of the law and be treated as criminals.

Speaking to Beatrice Adu on The Big Bulletin on Monday (31 January), Annoh-Dompreh said: “I will insist, if this thing [fighting in Parliament] happens again, that all the people involved must face the full rigours of the law. They must be treated as any criminal anywhere and all these MPs [who engage] in such acts must lose their privileges.

“… Why? If we continue in this lane, we will not have the grounds to go to the Ghanaian people and ask them to vote for us again,” Annoh-Dompreh said.

“… If anybody in the Majority gets that dirty, they should face the full rigours of the law. We expect the Minority to be civil. We’re not expecting them to sing our praises to agree with everything we put across, but let’s have some decorum, let’s have some civility.

“Let’s have some respect for the conscience of the Ghanaian people who mandated us to come to this chamber,” the Majority Chief Whip urged.

Tired of fighting
Earlier, Annoh-Dompreh said the Majority in Parliament is tired of fighting the Minority over passage of the Electronic Transactions Levy (E-Levy) Bill.

He declared that the Majority is ready to make compromises to reach a consensus with the opposition, in order to ensure that the E-Levy is passed.

“I hope that we’ll be able to deal with this matter … We’re tired. We are tired of these fights; we’re tired of the fights. So, if there are compromises that have to be made, I know they will be made and already.

“I’ve noted that there are more engagements going on. The compromises that have to be made have to be made for the sake of our country,” he said.

More scuffles in parliament?
In a related interview with Asaase Radio, Rasheed Draman, the executive director of the African Centre for Parliamentary Affairs (ACEPA), bemoaned the lack of punitive action against MPs who engage in fighting in the chamber.

He fears Ghana’s Parliament will witness more scuffles if the actors in the previous lawlessness are not penalized.

“Our current parliament is unique in its structure and so if we do not see tolerance and mediation take a salient role, then we will continue to see confusion and scuffles in Parliament,” Dr Draman said.