North Tongu Member of Parliament, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has told Ghanaians not to take the “slap” comment made by the General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Johnson Asiedu Nketia, out of context.
Mr Ablakwa told TV3’s William Evans-Nkum that Mr Asiedu Nketia was only calling for the right things to be done in Parliament in accordance with the Standing Orders.
Johnson Asiedu Nketia had said opposition lawmakers would continue to resist any attempt to pass the E-levy. He said the minority would use any force possible to prevent the controversial bill from being passed.
“So long as impunity will not stop, resistance has been imposed on us as a duty. if a deputy speaker decides to vote and at the same time play the role in a referee, if slapping him will make him do the right thing, don’t hesitate” he told the Ashanti regional youth wing of the NDC in Kumasi on Sunday February 6
He further charged the supporters in the Ashanti region to adopt a winning attitude since, according to him, that is the surest way of winning the 2024 elections.
“NPP won Hohoe because they adopted a winning attitude although, we know a lot of things didn’t go down well,” he said.
Speaking on this Mr Ablakwa told Evans-Nkum that “It is important that we do not take the General Secretary out of context.
“The General Secretary is saying that let us follow the laws. The constitution is clear, the Standing Orders is very clear. If you are in the chair you do not have a vote when you are presiding.
“The First Deputy Speaker himself , a few days prior, said that he knows he doesn’t have a vote so let us do things right. We all do not like the images that go out of parliament. We are decent people, we go to Parliament to debate, to do brain work and to represent our people with the best of intentions, we do not go to Parliament with the mindset that we are going to some wrestling arena.
“If you want all of these disturbances to stop and we all do not want this tensions, the brawl , the fisticuffs, the physical contestations, things should never degenerate to that point, we do not want that. But the only way to prevent that is to stop the impunity to respect the constitution, to do things right.”
By Laud Nartey|3news.com|Ghana