We Won’t Tolerate Your Partisanship - Minority ‘Tackles’ Clerks

The Minority caucus has sounded a word of caution to the clerks of Parliament that they will not condone any form of partisanship from them.

Making a submission on the floor on March 31, Minority Chief Whip, Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka noted that although everyone has their political biases, it should not conflict with accurate reporting.

He contended that the experience of the clerks makes certain mistakes they commit inexcusable.

The Asawase MP was raising an objection to the recording of some 8 Minority MPs as absent despite their presence in the House and also failure to record that the Minority staged a walkout during the passage of the E-levy bill on March 29.

According to Muntaka Mubarak, the only ‘absentee’ MP from the side of the Minority was the Assin North MP, James Gyakye Quayson who is standing trial.

He accused the clerks of partisanship and of executing an agenda.

“We just want to sound caution to our clerk and his team. It is true people may have their party affiliation but what we expect from them is fairness and accurate reporting.

“This partisan behavior, we will not tolerate it. It is deliberate and it was intended for a purpose and that purpose Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, has been achieved out there because you go around all the radio stations and TV stations and all they are discussing is the votes and proceedings and lambasting our members unfairly.

“Mr. Speaker it has led to almost a crisis in our caucus especially when it was not corrected yesterday [March 30] because members felt leadership has become inert, insensitive to their plight, and now they are facing the wrath of their constituents unjustifiably when truly [when] they were asked to come to the House, some of them were here long before we even started sitting and yet this has happened and unfortunately, it has not been corrected,” Muntaka lamented.

Parliament on March 29 passed the E-levy bill despite the Minority staging a walkout.

Votes and Proceedings on the day indicated that 8 NDC MPs were marked absent with one NPP MP, Sarah Adwoa Safo marked as absent.

With the exception of Assin North MP, James Gyakye Quayson, who the Minority has admitted was absent, they maintains that the other 7 MPs were present.