Mahama Ayariga: Majority Leader explains circumstances behind Tuesday’s disruption in Parliament
The Majority Leader in Parliament, Mahama Ayariga, has outlined the events he says led to the disruption in the House on Tuesday during discussions surrounding the Kpandai seat.
Speaking in a radio interview on Joy FM on Wednesday, December 10, 2025, Mr Ayariga said the confusion arose when the Minority declined a proposal for both sides to return to the chamber to restate their positions on the Speaker’s earlier ruling regarding the Kpandai constituency.
He explained that the development followed the Clerk to Parliament’s letter to the Electoral Commission announcing a vacancy in the Kpandai seat.
According to him, the Clerk acted in line with constitutional requirements after seven days had passed without a court order restraining Parliament.
Mr Ayariga said the Majority asked that the House reconvene so the Speaker could clarify his statement that court processes filed by the Kpandai MP “may serve as a restraint”. He noted, though, that the Minority did not agree to this approach.
“In a democracy, if you speak, me too I should speak… and you say I should not speak. I said no, you can’t do that. I will not allow this to happen,” he said.
Mr Ayariga stated that discussions held outside the chamber initially suggested progress, after Minority leaders agreed to speak to their members and return to the floor. According to him, that plan was later withdrawn when the backbenchers objected.
“They went and then we sat in the Speaker’s waiting room for about 10 minutes. And they came back and said, our back benchers have refused. I said, who are your back benchers to say they have refused? Who are they?” he said.
He said the absence of an open debate in the chamber contributed to the disorder that followed.
“That was the issue of yesterday, a minority saying that the majority led by myself should not state the other side of the case… That is not democracy,” he said.
Mr Ayariga also noted that the exchanges were not centred solely on the Kpandai MP’s participation, but on the Majority’s intention to explain the Clerk’s legal basis for communicating the vacancy.
“It is a principle that they, as a minority, should restrain the majority from speaking… just speaking,” he said.
He pointed out that under Article 112(5), the timeline for a by-election began on December 1.
“As we speak, the Clerk has communicated to the Electoral Commission, the 30 days have started running. Unless they have a court order restraining the Electoral Commission, the 30 days have started running. That is what the law is,” he said.
Mr Ayariga said the Speaker could only rule on the matter after hearing both sides formally on the floor, and suggested that the absence of this process contributed to the tense scenes witnessed on Tuesday.
“They want to clearly undermine the very basis of parliamentary democracy that both sides of the House should speak… Ghanaians are the ones who have put us here. So let’s go and speak to Ghanaians,” he added.
He said the Majority would continue with the consideration of budget estimates as the House moves towards the Appropriations Act.
“We are there. We’ll wait and receive them,” he said.
