Lawyer Kofi Bentil, taking notice of the dramatic encounter between the Member of Parliament for Juaboso, Kwabena Mintah Akando and the Member of Parliament for Ablekuma West, Ursula Owusu Ekuful has suggested that the male MP can sue his female colleague for assault and win a substantive amount of money.
For all the chaos and skirmishes that characterized the election of a Speaker for Ghana’s 8th Parliament, there was also a spice of drama as well.
One of the dramatic moments on the night was an encounter between the two MPs.
In the midst of the melee that took place on the floor of the house, the two were captured on national TV in a position that at first glance one would take as two lovebirds having a moment of their lives.
However, a careful look at the grim on the faces of the two would tell one that all was not well between the Ablekuma West MP who had decided to take a seat on the laps of the Juaboso MP.
The two were ostensibly engaged in a tussle of who had the right to occupy a seat in the area allocated for Members of the majority side of the house
Earlier in the night, there had been a confrontation between the members of both divides the house on which group had the right to occupy seats located on the right hand side of the speaker.
The NDC claiming majority of the 8th Parliament which was to be sworn in on the night had filed into the chamber earlier to occupy the seats allotted to the majority members.
Despite the resistance by the NPP members when they later came into the chamber, they gave up the fight for who occupies the majority members’ seats and settled for the seats to the left-hand side of the Speaker meant for the minority.
The Ablekuma West MP notwithstanding the decision by her party Members decided to fight on. She thus at a point resolved to take a seat on the laps of Mr. Akando with whom she had been engaged in a tussle over the seat he was occupying.
Sharing his view on the dramatic episode in parliament, Kofi Bentil in a post on his Facebook page suggested that Mr Akando, based on the actions of his colleague he has a legitimate case of assault against her from which he can legally claim monetary reward.
“Sitting on someone without their consent is assault. If the man wants some free money he can sue and he will win,” the Vice President of Policy Think Tank IMANI Africa wrote.
The encounter between the two MPs has become one of the highlights of the eventful 8th Parliament inauguration and has generated a lot of conversations on social media platforms.
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