Jan. 8 chaos: Military entered parliament to ‘prevent further misconduct’ by MPs – Joe Wise

Member of Parliament for Bekwai, Joseph Osei-Owusu, has spoken about the events of January 8 when the chamber erupted into violent scenes as MPs convened to elect a Speaker for the 8th Parliament.

One of the key events of the day was the 'historic' entry into the chamber by military personnel amid the chaos that was ensuing.

Different reasons have been advanced for the incident which was widely condemned by almost all lawmakers, civil society groups and the general public.

Giving his take on the entire episode which he described as “most unfortunate”, the MP who is also the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament offered an explanation for the military 'invasion'.

“For the first time, we had needed extra security to come in because the marshalls of parliament could not contain the situation. Indeed, if you watched it, you would see the marshall lying down, pushed violently down.

“Then for the first time, the military had to enter the chamber to try and prevent further misconduct on the part of Members of Parliament,” he told a Joy News journalist on Sunday evening, May 2.

Pushed over Parliament’s seeming reluctance to probe the issue, he insisted that a probe was underway and that when it is completed, it will be made available to the public.

“There was no leadership, there were no members of parliament and therefore what we decided is we will investigate for the purpose of informing ourselves and guarding our image.

On the progress being made so far, he disclosed that: “It is going well, we are not done yet. The Marshall will bring the report, all of us witnessed facts but it is important for the record to put out the specific acts of individuals so that in the end we will be guided by what has happened for the future,” he stressed.