Alexander Afenyo-Markin, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Effutu, has justified the military presence on the Floor of Parliament during the election of a Speaker for the 8th Parliament in the early hours of January 7, 2021.
According to him, the Marshalls in Parliament, who were to give protection to every individual in Parliament, were helpless at the time.
“The rioting must be looked into and I am surprised that their flagbearer did not issue any statement condemning the conduct of his party,” Mr Afenyo-Markin said.
“House of Parliament is for MPs. Ordinarily, the security of parliamentarians within the Chamber is provided by the Marshalls. We have police officers, some of them sit at the gallery…they are there to protect us.
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“All of us were in danger, the Marshalls were helpless. One of the Marshalls was hit, he fell, he was pushed, he was helpless. The police officers were helpless. The Table Office Head was hit… the Clerk himself was hit when he was taking the order to Haruna Iddrisu.
“So, if the view is that under those prevailing circumstances, there was no such requirement for a further boost because things had escalated, and if anybody is saying that, at that point, there was no need to boost or beef up security then I’m afraid, that person would not be acting fairly,” the Deputy Leader of the NPP caucus in Parliament explained in a Citi News interview on Tuesday, January 12.