You can disrupt the house but it takes maturity not to call the military in – Gyampo fires NPP

Political science lecturer at the University of Ghana, Prof. Ransford Gyampo, has reacted to today’s disruption of government business in Parliament by the minority caucus following the declaration of the Kpandai seat as vacant.

The Kpandai Constituency seat, previously occupied by the NPP’s Matthew Nyindam, had its 2024 parliamentary election annulled by the Tamale High Court. The New Patriotic Party disagreed with the ruling and subsequently filed processes at the Supreme Court seeking to quash the High Court’s decision.

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However, on Tuesday, the Clerk of Parliament wrote to the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission informing her of Parliament’s decision to declare the seat vacant in line with the High Court’s orders. This prompted the NPP side of the House to disrupt government business during proceedings.

Reacting to the development, the CEO of the Ghana Shippers Authority, in a Facebook post, argued that it is democratically acceptable for a minority group in Parliament to resort to disruption as a way of expressing grievances. He added, however, that it takes democratic maturity for the Speaker of Parliament and the majority side not to invite military personnel into the Chamber to restore order, as happened in 2021.

“It is democratically normal for a minority to use disruption to ventilate grievances. But it is democratic maturity for the Speaker and the majority to be tolerant, resilient, and refuse to call in the military to ensure discipline, as happened in 2021.”

On the night of January 6, 2021, during the election of the Speaker of Parliament, Ghana witnessed a highly troubling incident when the then–Akufo-Addo-led government deployed military personnel into the Parliamentary Chamber to maintain “law and order” following a heated scuffle between the ruling NPP and the opposition NDC.

At the time, the House was evenly split between the NPP and the NDC, each side presenting a candidate for the Speakership. During the counting of ballots, some members on the NPP side—most notably the Tema West MP, Carlos Kingsley Ahenkorah—snatched a ballot box and attempted to flee the Chamber, triggering widespread condemnation.