The Deputy Minority Leader, Patricia Appiagyei, has described the Speaker’s decision to refer the Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, to the Privileges Committee of Parliament as a calculated attempt to gag the Minority Caucus and cause deep division among members.
She accused both the Speaker and the Majority Leader, Mahama Ayariga, of scheming a coordinated campaign of intimidation, harassment, and institutional abuse to remove the Minority Leader from the ECOWAS Parliament.
She explained that the two removed Alexander Afenyo-Markin’s name from Ghana's delegation to ECOWAS Parliament without any consultation or seeking her consent.
“This is a cynical, diabolical, and constitutionally perverse scheme ever orchestrated within the precincts of Ghana’s Parliament,” she said, saying that the move had embarrassed Ghana before the community of West African nations.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday in reaction to the Speaker's decision to refer Mr Afenyo-Markin to the Privileges Committee, Ms Appiagyei said, “Mahama Ayariga had the audacity to petition the Speaker to refer the Minority Leader to the Privileges Committee for performing his lawful duties as a sworn member and Third Deputy Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament.”
“This is not parliamentary oversight. This is vindictive persecution as the timing is revealing. This petition came exactly one day after the Minority Leader led our side at the Appointments Committee to expose the NDC government’s dishonourable attempt to secure parliamentary vetting for the then acting Chief Justice nominee, Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie.”
“This is retaliation, pure and simple, and the Speaker, rather than dismiss this absurd petition out of hand, has entertained it, dignified it with a ruling, and referred it to the Privileges Committee. This is not leadership. This is complicity,” she said.
On Thursday, the Speaker referred the Minority Leader to the Privileges Committee to determine whether his decision to attend a session in the ECOWAS Parliament constitutes contempt of Parliament.
The issue revolves around the parliamentary delegation to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament and Mr Afenyo-Makin’s failure to vacate his position and cease participation in the regional body’s proceedings.
Ms Appiagyei described the Speaker’s referral of the Minority Leader to the Privileges Committee as unlawful.
She said what was being witnessed was not parliamentary procedure but it is political persecution.
“It is not the enforcement of Standing Orders; it is the weaponisation of the Standing Orders.
“And it is not about upholding the dignity of Parliament, but it is about crushing a fearless opposition leader who has consistently stood between this nation and constitutional anarchy,” she said.
The Deputy Minority Leader said the Speaker’s ruling on Thursday to refer the Minority Leader to the Privileges Committee was the culmination of a coordinated campaign of intimidation, harassment and institutional abuse that started on July 22, 2025 when she was ambushed, without consultation or consent, into an illegal plot to remove “my Leader from Ghana’s delegation to the ECOWAS Parliament.”
“Let me be abundantly clear: I protested, I objected, I refused, and I was ignored in the ambush on July 22,” she said.
She said on Tuesday, July 22, while the Minority Leader was unwell and receiving treatment, the Majority Leader, Mahama Ayariga, moved “stealthily and clandestinely” to amend Ghana’s ECOWAS delegation list.
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