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Armed soldiers Thursday stormed the Chamber of Parliament following the continued failure of the Members of Parliament-elect to elect the Speaker for the Eighth Parliament.
The soldiers, numbering about 20, emerged in the Chamber together with armed policemen ostensibly to restore calm in the Chamber.
The well-armed security detail, with some having facemasks, came to the floor of Parliament at about 3.30 a.m. reportedly on the orders of the former Minister of Defence, Mr Dominic Nitiwul.
The appearance of the military rocked the nerves of the legislators especially members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Singing the national anthem and other patriotic songs, the NDC MPs-elect resisted the presence of the military men in the Chamber, asking them to leave.
Graphic Online
BY: Zadok Kwame Gyesi
705
A security analyst Col. Festus Aboagy (rtd) is of the view that the failure on the part of service commanders to tell politicians what they can do and what they cannot do is what has led to the deployment of armed military personnel to the chamber of Ghana’s parliament to handle security issues.
For him, it is dangerous for Ghana’s democracy to involve the military in matters that ought to be handled by the police.
Speaking in an interview with Accra-based Joynews on Thursday morning, January 7, 2021, Col. Aboagy said service commanders have the professional responsibility to advise politicians as to what they can do and what they cannot do, stressing that “because we have been failing to over many years in telling politicians where the lines must be drawn, that is why the politicians are emboldened all the time to exert pressure in issues that the military must not be involved; and is a danger.”
Graphic Online
BY: Getrude Ankah Nyavi
705
Former President John Dramani Mahama has condemned the military invasion of the Chamber of Parliament Thursday, January 7, 2021.
He also condemned the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tema West Carlos Ahenkorah for snatching ballot papers during the counting process to decide the Speaker of the House.
In a congratulatory message to Alban Bagbin on his election as the Speaker of the 8th Parliament of the 4th Republic, the flagbearer of the NDC in the 2020 elections called on Parliament to investigate the military invasion of the House.
“Congratulations Rt. Hon. Alban Sumani Kingsford Bagbin on your election as the Speaker of the 8th Parliament of the 4th Republic”, he wrote on his Facebook page on Thursday.
Armed soldiers Thursday stormed the Chamber of Parliament following the continued failure of the Members of Parliament-elect to elect the Speaker for the Eighth Parliament.
The soldiers, numbering about 20, emerged in the Chamber together with armed policemen ostensibly to restore calm in the Chamber.
The well-armed security detail, with some having facemasks, came to the floor of Parliament at about 3.30 a.m. reportedly on the orders of the former Minister of Defence, Mr Dominic Nitiwul.
The appearance of the military rocked the nerves of the legislators especially members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Singing the national anthem and other patriotic songs, the NDC MPs-elect resisted the presence of the military men in the Chamber, asking them to leave.