The Majority Chief Whip, Frank Annoh-Dompreh has stated that his side of the House will never slander women.
During Monday’s session in Parliament, the Minority caucus raised dissatisfaction with Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin’s remark concerning the selection of Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang as Former President Mahama’s running mate for the 2024 elections.
He asked the Minority in Parliament not to launch a campaign against New Patriotic Party (NPP) legislators for being anti-women in response to Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin’s remark about former President John Dramanai Mahama’s running mate.
Afenyo-Markin believes her appointment reflected a lack of succession planning and visionary leadership within the NDC.
The Minority caucus demanded him to withdraw the comment, but he initially refused, disrupting the debate over the President’s State of the Nation speech.
The Second Deputy Speaker, Andrew Asiamah Amoako had to suspend proceedings for a while to allow matters to settle.
Mr Afenyo-Markin however withdrew his statement, saying, “Colleagues expressed a concern about the issue of age. Mr Speaker, the submission was to the effect that our opponents don’t have a clear succession plan for the future [and] not to denigrate their running mate based on age. So I withdraw that aspect of the submission that referred to her age as the basis of my contention.”
Addressing the press in Parliament, Annoh-Dompreh said “In our standing orders if somebody said something that is impugning a wrong motive you have the right to rise up at where you are and take the person on.
“Our colleagues should learn how to be tolerant, they should up their sense of tolerance. When Ato Forson and co were speaking, assuming without admitting that the Majority Leader had said something that borders on personal attacks on Prof Opoku-Agyemang, that is not how to go about it but we will be kind enough, that is how democratic we are, we always show the way.
“If it is the case that the mention of Prof and her age is their problem we will depart from there but the fact will be told, the story will be told, and the abysmal performance of John Mahama and their administration we will continue to expose that. Let nobody begin any crusade that we went on a viral attack on womanhood, that we will never do.”