The Minister for Tourism, Culture, and Creative Arts, Abla Dzifa Gomashie, has criticised the violent events that unfolded during the Appointments Committee sitting on January 30, describing them as an act of intolerance and a blatant disregard for the rules of Parliament.
Appearing before Parliament’s Special Committee, which has been tasked with investigating the incident, the Tourism Minister condemned the actions of some lawmakers, particularly members of the Minority, who were accused of launching verbal attacks against the Committee’s Clerk.
According to reports, shortly after the chaotic scenes erupted, the Minority caucus accused the Clerk of bias and alleged that she was affiliated with the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
During her testimony, Dzifa Gomashie called out the failure of the Committee’s leadership to protect its Clerk from what she described as undue abuse.
Expressing deep disappointment, she noted that the principles of parliamentary decorum and mutual respect had been completely disregarded during the vetting session.
Many have condemned the behaviour of lawmakers, calling for urgent reforms to prevent such occurrences in the future. Some have also raised concerns about the safety and well-being of parliamentary staff, particularly female officials, in the wake of the Clerk’s ordeal.
Gomashie noted “On that faithful day, I saw the absence of tolerance, I saw the absence of camaraderie, I saw the absence of the respect for this institution called the Parliament of Ghana, and I saw the total disrespect for a woman who has risen through the ranks to be the Clerk to the committee that was vetting the nominees for President John Dramani Mahama.
“I saw an attack on the woman and the inability of leadership of the committee to protect her. I saw total chaos and the destruction of property belonging to the Republic of Ghana.”
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