Afenyo-Markin Leads NPP MPs' Walkout of Parliament Over Deputy Speaker's Ruling on SIM Card Question

• The Minority Caucus staged a walkout from Parliament on Wednesday, accusing First Deputy Speaker Bernard Ahiafor of blocking their oversight role
• The walkout was triggered after Ahiafor disallowed a supplementary question from Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin on the SIM card re-registration policy
• Afenyo-Markin accused the Deputy Speaker of using parliamentary rules to frustrate backbenchers

Ghana's Parliament descended into disorder on Wednesday after the Minority Caucus walked out of the chamber, citing what they described as deliberate obstruction by First Deputy Speaker Bernard Ahiafor during a ministerial question-and-answer session.

The incident was set off when Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin questioned the Communications Minister over the government's planned SIM card re-registration exercise.

After the Minister responded, Afenyo-Markin sought to ask a supplementary question probing whether the re-registration process was complying with proper procurement procedures. Ahiafor disallowed the question, ruling it had strayed from the original inquiry, prompting the Minority to collectively exit the chamber in protest.

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Speaking to journalists outside the chamber, Afenyo-Markin said the walkout reflected months of accumulated grievance rather than a reaction to a single ruling.

The Minority Leader argued the question he sought to raise was firmly in the public interest, pointing to the financial implications of starting a fresh national SIM registration exercise.

"This is a government policy seeking to start SIM registration afresh. They claim people use unverifiable identities. Our question is, at what cost? How many people were identified as having used stolen IDs? Especially when the minister himself said it would be at no cost to subscribers," he said.

"That's a harmless question. It's in the interest of the Ghanaian public to know how much it is costing the nation."

Afenyo-Markin invoked Order 89.1 of Parliament's standing orders, which he said permits members to anchor supplementary questions on a Minister's answer for clarification.

"The rules are not meant to be used to intimidate, frustrate, and bring parliament to a standstill," he said.

The Minority Leader also claimed the Deputy Speaker's own side of the House found fault with his ruling, alleging that the Majority Leader himself signalled disapproval.

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"As you observe, even his own side disagreed with him. The majority leader himself realised that what he was doing was wrong," Afenyo-Markin said.

Despite the dramatic exit, the Minority Leader made clear the walkout was a targeted protest and not an indefinite boycott of parliamentary proceedings.

Source: YEN.com.gh