Former Deputy Minister and Ghana’s Ambassador to the Netherlands, Dr Tony Aidoo, has strongly condemned Members of Parliament involved in the disruption of parliamentary proceedings on Tuesday, December 10, stating that those responsible should be stripped of their “Honourable” titles for bringing Parliament into disrepute.
Parliamentary proceedings were suspended after Minority Caucus members stormed the centre of the chamber, abandoned their seats and engaged in a brief scuffle, forcing the Speaker to halt the sitting.
The disorder erupted amid heated exchanges over the declaration of the Kpandai parliamentary seat as vacant, a move the Minority has described as unlawful and procedurally flawed.
Before the chaos escalated, Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga had criticised the Minority’s protests, arguing they were disrupting parliamentary business.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Wednesday, December 10, Dr Aidoo said the conduct displayed in the House far exceeded the limits of acceptable parliamentary dissent.
“What happened in Parliament was not palatable at all,” he said. “There is a right to heckle, but there is a limit. What we witnessed went beyond heckling—it was an outright attempt at filibustering, which is unacceptable for people entrusted with democratic responsibility.”
He stressed that the Minority’s refusal to allow the Majority Leader to speak, as well as their defiance of the Speaker’s authority, violated core parliamentary rules.
“Under their own standing orders, once the Speaker starts speaking, members must sit and listen. They refused to sit, and they refused to listen. That is a breach of democratic conduct,” he stated.
Dr Aidoo also described the proceedings as so chaotic that he doubted whether the Hansard staff could accurately capture the exchanges.
He expressed regret over what he called the steady erosion of Ghana’s democratic culture since 1992.
“This democracy has not endured to the benefit of ordinary people,” he lamented, accusing political actors of prioritising personal and party interests over national development.
According to him, MPs are elected to pursue the national interest above all else, not personal gain or partisan loyalty.
Dr Aidoo emphasised that the conduct observed was not limited to one side of the House, noting that both Majority and Minority MPs had displayed behaviour unbecoming of legislators.
“Parliament is not a marketplace for chaos and dishonourable conduct,” he said.
He concluded that all MPs involved in the confrontation no longer deserved to be called ‘Honourable.’
“They are not honourable; they are dishonourable people,” he declared.
Dr Aidoo also criticised the Speaker of Parliament for failing to exercise stronger authority, arguing that those involved should have been immediately ordered out of the chamber to restore discipline.
