Confusion as Tema West MP-elect snatches ballot papers in Speaker election

Counting of ballot papers to determine who will become the Speaker of the Eighth Parliament was disrupted when the Member of Parliament (MP) elect for Tema West, Kingsley Carlos Ahenkorah, snatched some ballot papers and attempted to flee from the Chamber.

That was after Mr. Ahenkorah who was not part of those counting the ballot papers had sensed the possibility of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) nominated Speaker, Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye, losing out to his National Democratic Congress (NDC) proposed candidate, Mr. Alban Bagbin.

That interruption came after the counting of the first set of ballot papers by the clerks of Parliament and the NDC member for Asawase, Mohmmed-Mubarak Muntaka, had signaled his colleague NDC MPs-elect that they had won the first counting by two votes.

The signal caused the NDC MPs-elect, who were occupying the Majority side of the House, to burst into spontaneous jubilation as the counting of the second set of ballots was just underway.

Mr. Ahenkorah was seen rising from his seat from the Minority side of the House and approaching the counting area, where the New Patriotic Party (NPP) member-elect for Nsawam-Adoagyiri, Frank Annoh-Dompreh, was helping to sort the already out counted ballot papers.

Out of the blue, Mr. Ahenkorah snatched the ballot papers from the hands of the Clerks to Parliament and taking to his heels and heading out of the Chamber.

The security detail inside the Chamber attempted to stop him from getting out but he succeeded in exiting and was pursued outside. He was accosted outside, by which time he had allegedly chewed some of the ballot papers.

Following the act by the MP, the NDC MPs-elect started jubilating for allegedly winning the polls, singing on top of their voices inside the Chamber.

When word went round that the counting process should be done again, the NDC MPs-elect kicked against the suggestion and kept jubilating, while their counterparts in the NPP remained in their seats, most of them shocked at the outcome of the polls and the conduct of their colleague Tema West MP-elect.