‘Don’t raise your voice; you and your caucus have been rude to me’ – Afenyo-Markin clashes with Ahiafor

The Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has voiced his dissatisfaction with the conduct of Bernard Ahiafor, Chairman of the Appointments Committee, during the vetting of ministerial nominees.

Tensions flared when Afenyo-Markin raised concerns about addressing the appointments of Chief Executive Officers and Managing Directors.

The Majority, however, countered that such matters were beyond the remit of the ministerial vetting process.

The vetting of Kwame Governs Agbodza, the minister-designate for Roads and Highways, was scheduled to begin at 10:00 AM.

However, disagreements delayed the session, and as of 11:54 AM, proceedings had yet to commence.

A brief five-minute suspension was called to resolve the disruptions, but tensions persisted after the session resumed.

Afenyo-Markin accused the chairman and members of the committee, including the Deputy Speaker, of rude behaviour and criticised the chairman for acting in bad faith by resuming the session without Minority members present.

“Chairman, don’t raise your voice, you suspended sitting for 5 minutes. You had called me and I said I was having a meeting with my caucus. I will join you, then the next moment you start. I want to register this protest that you have proceeded in bad faith.

“It’s not the understanding we had. I was responding to a point of order, you came in rudely to say you have ruled. Bring down your voice chairman, you are raising your voice. Mr. Chairman, all your colleagues including you have been rude to me this morning. You have been very rude.

“The rate at which I’m being interrupted is unacceptable. The chairman rudely interrupted me.”

Afenyo-Markin later apologised to the chair following objections raised concerning his outburst.