‘Slap Deputy Speaker if he bends the rules’ – Asiedu Nketia charges NDC MPs

General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Johnson Asiedu Nketia has reaffirmed the party’s resolve to oppose the passage of the controversial Electronic Transfer Levy (E-levy), describing the posture of members of the Majority side towards the approval of the bill as an act of impunity.

“So long as impunity will not stop, resistance has been imposed on us as a duty”, the NDC scribe retorted. “If a Deputy Speaker decides to vote [during proceedings] and at the same time play the role of a referee, don’t hesitate to slap him to keep him on track”.

Mr. Asiedu Nketia made these remarks while addressing the party’s youth wing in the Ashanti Region on Saturday, February 5.

In December last year, Members of Ghana’s Parliament exchanged brawls in the House just before the final vote on the controversial Electronic Transfer Levy Bill, also known as e-levy.

This was after sit-in Speaker, Joseph Osei-Owusu, had announced that a division would be followed to approve the Bill, presented under a certificate of urgency, and he was going to vote as well in his capacity as a Member of Parliament from the majority side.

The Bekwai MP’s actions appear to have incensed Mr. Asiedu Nketia who is urging his side to fiercely call such elements to order even if it has to be done physically.

“If President Akufo-Addo wants sanity to prevail in parliament, he should just allow the laws and the democratic institutions to work”, he said.

SOURCE: DAILY MAIL GH