Speaker suspends sitting abstractly after NPP MPs stage walkout in parliament

The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, was forced to suspend sitting after the Majority MPs leadership of the House walked out.

According to GhanaWeb's correspondent in parliament, Nimatu Yakubu Atouyese, the decision by the Majority leadership infuriated members of the Minority caucus as they believed the Speaker should have gone ahead with his headcount.

The headcount decision was arrived at after the Minority MPs disagreed with Bagbin on his voice vote decision that the 'Ayes' won, prompting a decision by them for a headcount.

The MPs on the Majority side of parliament started walking out after the leadership left the floor.

The leadership of the Majority was led by Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin.

Although the leadership of the Majority led the walkout, not all the MPs on that side of the House have followed him.

While that was unfolding, the MPs on the Minority side simultaneously started chanting, 'Away! Away!' and a song that says, 'Bye bye o, bye bye o."

The MPs are supposed to conclude the debate on the 2024 Budget Statement and Economic Policy presented to the House by the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta.

However, that can only be determined with a majority vote, which, as GhanaWeb's parliamentary correspondent, Nimatu Yakubu Atouyese, explained, might have gone against the NPP MPs because they did not have the numbers to win this.

Watch a video of the walkout below:

BAI/AE

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