'Power belongs to the people' - MPs chastised over inauguration chaos

Members of Parliament must recognise that the power they wield belongs to the Ghanaian people directly. This is the view of a top psychologist, Prof. Joseph Osafo.

His views are in reaction to the misconduct displayed by lawmakers a fortnight ago during the dissolution of the last parliament and election of a new speaker for the current parliament on January 7, 2021.

"What was happening was also desecration of our power... Our MPs should be careful. If they say we're MPs, so nobody can do anything to us; they need to be careful.

"We have given them the power. The danger of political communication and leadership is to misrepresent our power. If you misrepresent that and claim the power for yourself, it has a certain bad corresponding effect.

"It shows that if our leaders are behaving this way, then I, at the grass root, can also behave anyhow," he stressed whiles speaking on Peace FM's Kokrokoo programme.

The chaotic night started when the caucuses in parliament disagreed on whether there was a majority side, then it was followed by further disagreement on voting rights of a sued MP and on the voting process.

Prof Osafo joined calls for the violent and illegal actions of the lawmakers to be expressly condemned. He noted that MPs violated the mandate given to them by Ghanaians and warned them not to repeat their behaviour.

During the speakership election, violent scenes were witnessed including kicking of ballot boxes and booths. The events led to an intervention by armed military and police personnel.



When the ballots were cast, an MP also attempted to steal a ballot paper during the counting of ballots, throwing the house into another frenzy.

Eventually, a former MP Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin was elected speaker beating the immediate past occupant of the seat Mike Oquaye. There is currently a debate over whether he was elected or selected based on consensus.