Parliament divided over cocaine
The Majority and the Minority in Parliament yesterday traded accusations of complicity in the illicit drug trade, a situation which plunged the House into disarray and led the Speaker, Mr Edward Doe Adjaho, to suspend proceedings for more than 10 minutes.
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The disorder began when the Deputy Minority Leader, Mr Dominic Nitiwul, in his contribution to the debate on the 2015 financial policy of the government, displayed a 12-kilogramme bag of rice and wondered how anyone could carry cocaine of that size through Ghana's airport without detection.
The issue he raised was totally unrelated to the matter at stake.
Mr Nitiwul told the House that he had wanted to raise the "cocaine issue" but had decided to shelve it until the next day.
However, he said he wanted to provide a "teaser" while he waited until today to raise the issue on the floor of Parliament.
He then held aloft the bag of rice and said, "How on earth can anybody carry this through an airport and nobody will catch the person? Twelve kilogrammes of cocaine in a handbag, Mr Speaker! The statement will come tomorrow.”
The move by Mr Nitiwul appeared to have pleased members of the Minority, as they shouted "cocaine" several times and hooted at members of the Majority.
Some members of the Majority attempted to refer to the Minority members as being rather involved in the sale of illicit drugs.
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By that time the House had begun to descend into disorder.
Speaker displeased
Mr Adjaho was visibly unhappy about the direction in which Mr Nitiwul had begun to move and said when the Deputy Minority Leader, in a meeting with him earlier in the day, had said he wanted to raise the issue on the floor of the House, he (Adjaho) had told him to do so through a statement or a motion on a later date.
Mr Adjaho said he had made it clear to Mr Nitiwul that he did not want the debate on the 2015 budget statement to be "hijacked for any other purpose".
"You left my lobby with a promise to come with a statement. It never came. But you were carrying something. Whatever it was, I did not know. It doesn't show respect to the mutual discussions we had.
“If you changed your mind, nothing prevented you from drawing my attention to that. We have mutual channels of communication. Let us use the rules of the House," he said.
Bagbin's accusations
The Majority Leader, Mr Alban Bagbin, expressed surprise at the direction in which Mr Nitiwul had gone and said being part of the leadership of Parliament, it was his duty to assist the Speaker to maintain law and order in the House.
Leadership, he said, should not "ignite disorder", as Mr Nitiwul had done.
Mr Bagbin then surprised the House by stoking the fire. "Sticking cocaine on the Majority will never stick," he said, adding, "As we stand here, if any member has been arrested with drugs, it is from the other side" and flung his hands towards the Minority.
The Majority members, obviously pleased with Mr Bagbin's last comments, cheered and made gestures towards the Minority, shouting, "Amoateng!" and "cocaine!"
The Minority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, perhaps feeling that his side had been dealt a blow, made matters worse.
He began his comments by saying he had not been aware of what Mr Nitiwul was about to do until he did it and that the raising of the bag was to send a "bolder message" about the quantum of cocaine seized from a Ghanaian lady in the United Kingdom (UK) recently.
"But, Mr Speaker, we have known the wife and the son of a Speaker in this country being involved in drug dealing," he said.
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By that time the House was in total disarray, with both sides trading accusations, calling each other names, banging desks, singing and chanting.
Realising that there was total disorder, Mr Adjaho suspended sitting and called the leadership of the House to a meeting in the Speaker’s Lobby.
Apologies/continuation
The leadership and the Speaker emerged from the meeting after more than 10 minutes, smiling and apologetic.
Mr Nitiwul said, indeed, he had reached an agreement with the Speaker that the cocaine issue be debated in a bipartisan manner on a later date and that he should come to the House with a statement on the matter.
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He apologised for his conduct and statements.
Mr Bagbin withdrew all his comments and said they had been made in response to the surprise statements and actions by Mr Nitiwul.
He also apologised to the Speaker and his colleagues and added that he had sought to throw a harder punch in response to the one thrown earlier by Mr Nitiwul.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, for his part, said the integrity of the House needed to be protected at all times and by all members, adding that he was lured into the fray by the "rather uncharacteristic response" from Mr Bagbin to Mr Nitiwul's comments.
He said his comments about a Speaker's wife being arrested for drug dealing had nothing to do with the current crop of Speakers.
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Mr Adjaho reminded members that there was nothing in the rules of Parliament called "teaser".
He said the people of Ghana expected MPs to debate the budget, hoping that "at the end of the day their living conditions will improve".