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Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin and the Minority Chief Whip, Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka clashed in Parliament on Thursday, November 10, 2022, when a motion of censure against Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta was moved by Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu.

After a preliminary objection was raised by Deputy Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, and shot down; the speaker delivered a ruling in which he directed that the vote of censure be referred to a committee.

But the Minority through Muntaka sought to explain why there was no need for a referral to a committee but instead why there was the need to proceed to a vote on the matter citing wording in the relevant rules.

Muntaka's submission appeared to have veered into an area where the Speaker robustly stepped in, charging the MP of attacking his ruling.

He ordered Muntaka to retract and apologize, which order Muntaka expressly refused to heed neither did he listen to orders to resume his seat.

The Speaker subsequently ordered all he said when he had been asked to sit to be expunged from the Hansard - i.e. the official records of the House.

Below is a transcript of the Bagbin vs. Muntaka banter:

Muntaka: Mr. Speaker, with all respect and humility to you, in this text, nowhere did it say Mr. Speaker will refer the matter to any ad hoc committee. It says that the House will take a decision and decisions in this House Mr. Speaker is taken by vote.

So, if any member can move a motion… Mr. Speaker, it is for the decision of this House, that is what Order 106 is saying.

Bagbin: Hon, you are completely, completely out of order. Hon. Member, I don’t take my rulings lightly, please. You are attacking my ruling and I think you don’t have that authority to do so. If you want to attack my ruling, come by a substantive motion.

Your understanding of ‘during the debate,’…. debate of matters before the House is not only during the plenary session. At the committee level, what you do there is to debate. That is why when you agree at the committee level and you come and put the matter here, you don’t waste time to debate again.

Bagbin proceeded to explain that plenary rules applied to the committee level, explaining further that the decision is taken by the House not the speaker but also that the rules say motion for censure “will be made by a member and referred to a committee, that is exactly what I said I am going to do.”

Muntaka: The House is defined in this Standing Orders as Parliament and Mr. Speaker, Parliament is this Chamber with 275 members.

Bagbin: Hon. Member please, the House cannot be constituted without a speaker. You must understand that. It is when a Speaker is presiding that it becomes a House. You can’t have this room with 275 Members seated here and call yourself a House.

Move away from the understanding that you are the makers of everything here, I have been listening to you, don’t give me that temptation.

Muntaka sought permission to continue his submission and was granted, Bagbin, however, added: “but I think that you have to withdraw what you said. Hon. Member, you have to withdraw it and apologize.”

Muntaka: I’m happy you’ve given me permission to speak, one of the cardinals of democracy is to listen to each other even when we disagree with each other, stressing that ruling was wrong and cannot be right.

Bagbin: Hon. Member resume your seat, resume your seat.

Muntaka: Mr. Speaker, I come to second the motion with the clear indication that any attempt to move this matter to a committee will be a travesty of justice done to the chamber of this House.

Bagbin: Hon. Members, I direct that all what the Minority Chief Whip has said after I have told him to withdraw and apologize, be expunged from the records. I so direct. Hansard expunge everything from the record.

Minority Chief Whip, you’ll have a difficulty in catching my eye again.

How motion of censure against Ofori-Atta was argued

The Minority Leader filed a motion of censure late last month against Minister for Finance Ken Ofori-Atta.

The motion was duly admitted by Speaker Alban Bagbin and on November 10, the motion was moved by Haruna Iddrisu to trigger debate and a vote on the same.

Speaker Bagbin, however, in his interpretation of the rules the Minority relied on referred the issue to an 8-member ad hoc committee formed to probe the Minority's claims against the Finance Minister.

The committee co-chaired by Dominic Ayine (NDC) and KT Hammond (NPP) is expected to present their report in seven days, following which the House will proceed with the censure process or otherwise.