The Minority Caucus in Parliament in a dramatic fashion, staged a walk-out ahead of the presentation of the 2025 Mid-Year Budget Review to protest against the violence that marred the recent parliamentary election re-run in the Ablekuma North Constituency.
Clad in black attire and holding placards with the inscription “Stop the Violence”, featuring images of alleged assaults during the July 11 re-run, the Minority members who were in the chamber begun to walk out immediately the Speaker called the House to order in readiness for the Finance Minister’s presentation.
Led by the Minority Chief Whip, Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh, they expressed grave concern over what they termed an alarming increase in electoral violence, warning that such developments were pushing the country’s democracy to the brink.
They described the re-run as being marred by voter intimidation, acts of violence, and the abuse of state security forces.
Despite the seriousness of their protest, the walk-out was met with jeers from the Majority side of the House, with some members shouting “Away!” as the Minority exited the chamber.
They stated that the caucus could not in good conscience, participate in the budget review proceedings while the President of the country continued to remain silent on what they saw as a grave assault on Ghana’s democratic processes.
Speaking shortly before the walk-out, Mr Annoh-Dompreh acknowledged the rising public concern over electoral violence and expressed solidarity with opposition concerns regarding the troubling events that unfolded in Ablekuma North.
“Increasingly, electoral violence is rearing its ugly head in our fledgling democracy,” he said. “The recent rerun in 19 polling stations in Ablekuma North is a clear example.”
“Mr Speaker, with the utmost respect, I would never challenge your authority. But we have lined up a series of actions to back our demands. As long as these acts of violence remain unaddressed, especially when they are visited upon us in our own homes, we cannot be part of the mid-year budget review. To that end, we are exiting and will not participate,” he added.
Later in the day, the Minority, led by Mr Annoh-Dompreh, presented a formal petition at the Jubilee House, which was received by the Chief of Staff, Mr Julius Debrah, on behalf of the President.
The caucus also petitioned the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, Mr Maher Kheir, over the violence in Ablekuma North.
Presenting the petition, Mr Annoh-Dompreh expressed deep concern about the implications of unchecked electoral violence for future elections.
He warned that if the perpetrators were not held accountable, such acts could continue and place Ghana’s democratic integrity in jeopardy.
Furthermore, he urged the government to take stronger action to curb illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, noting that it was one of the key campaign promises of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) during the 2024 elections.
“We are here to present this petition and to appeal for your patriotic intervention to help curb this menace. We have confidence in your leadership and believe you will act,” he said.
“We understand you have two-thirds of the majority in Parliament, but you still need the Minority to function. If nothing is done and its business as usual in Parliament, there will be total silence from us, you will hear nothing.
“This is just the beginning of a series of actions we plan to stage across the country. We will not act out of malice or to undermine governance, but as long as the threat of electoral violence continues to grow, and our authorities appear powerless, we will keep bringing these matters to national attention until they are addressed,” he added.
They also called for the dismissal of persons in government who they claimed publicly endorsed and or encouraged the violence.
In addition, they singled out Dr Hannah Bissiw, Administrator, Minerals Development Fund and Malik Basintale, CEO, Youth Employment Agency, for endorsing and publicly glorifying the violence.
The petition also called for disciplinary action against Chief Superintendent Lumor Fredrick Senanu, who was caught on tape assaulting a journalist and all other officers who were involved.
The NPP MPs claimed in their petition, signed by Deputy Leader, Patricia Appiagyei, that the election was “characterised by widespread violence, intimidation, impersonation of security forces, and brutal assaults on journalists, electoral officials, and opposition party members.”
The caucus later presented a third petition to the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO), calling for an independent inquiry into the Ablekuma North electoral violence.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI & CECILIA YADA LAGBA
