Muntaka Mubarak

The General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress has described the Member of Parliament (MP) for Asawase constituency and some of his colleagues as gallant MPs who deserve a national award for defending the Constitution of Ghana.

According to Asiedu Nketia, the actions of these MPs on Thursday were necessitated by the maneuvering of the New Patriotic Party side in Parliament to subvert the Constitution and rig the election of Speaker of Parliament.

“So that is why I called those who were involved in that activity gallant MPs. He (Muntaka Mubarak) stood up in defence of democracy and our Constitution,” he said at a press conference, Friday.

Although the conduct of the MPs has been condemned by the public as being disruptive and unbecoming of the country’s lawmakers, Mr Nketia thinks otherwise.

“When you talk about disruptive conduct it does not include the conduct that is intended to prevent wrongdoing, so, Muntaka acted well. We should award him a national prize,” he added.

His comment comes after many people called out lawmakers for their actions in Parliament on Thursday morning.

There was a scuffle on the Floor of Parliament over the election of Speaker of Parliament among other disagreements.

Some MPs were seen kicking ballot boxes, while some tried to make away with the ballot papers during the collation process.

This culminated in the deployment of the military to the Floor, another act that was described as needless and an affront to Ghana’s democracy.

Mr Nketia’s call for a national award for Mr Bubarak was in particular reference to the role he played in preventing Carlos Ahenkorah’s attempt at disrupting the collation process of the Speakership election.

The Asawase MP and other MPs were seen running after and apprehending Mr Ahenkorah.

Ghanaians, including some MPs, have called for some action to be taken against all those who disrupted the processes.

But Mr Nketia believes that “where injustice and impunity become law, then resistance becomes a duty.

“So somebody is doing something wrong, you have tried using every means to stop him he will not stop you must resist him with all the force you can command, and that is lawful.”