Minority Laments ‘Majority Tyranny’ In Parliament

The Minority Members of Parliament are alleging a grand scheme by a section of the House to sideline and render them redundant in Parliament.

The Minority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu claims the Majority members consistently hold meetings without involving the minority.

Such practices are akin to “sacrificing transparency on the altar of political convenience,” Mensah Bonsu insisted.

“Meetings before meetings are held on the blindside of others. This cannot be good for the growth of the Parliament of Ghana as an institution,” he added.

According to him, some members of the Minority have filed several motions on the floor but nothing has been heard from the leadership.

He named some of the pending motions as relating to the fire incidents and arrest and detention of a security official in charge of some aspects of security at the airport.

He said the least the House can do is to allow the Minority to have their say, even if the Majority would always have their way.

“The dictum in every Parliament is for the minority to be given their say even though the majority may have their way. However it appears, at least to some of us on this side of the House, that clear space for the minority to even have their say is sometimes constricted,” he protested.

His comments triggered reactions from the Speaker of Parliament, Edward Doe Adjaho, and the leadership of the majority.

In an interview with Joy News’ Evans Mensah, the Deputy Minority Leader Dominic Nitiwul hinted of a “majority tyranny” currently prevailing in the House.

But the Majority Chief Whip Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak vehemently disputed the claims.

He told Evans Mensah the Majority has in most cases sought to build consensus with their colleagues in Parliament.

He said the Minority MPs’ claims they were being sidelined in the House cannot be true.

Citing the decision by the Majority to withdraw a peacekeeping loan agreement following a number of issues raised by the minority, the Majority Chief Whip stated emphatically that “I can put my life on the line” and state that if it were the NPP in the majority that loan agreement would not be withdrawn.

He admonished the minority “not to put dust into the eyes of innocent Ghanaians.”