The Member of Parliament for Tamale South and Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has demanded a public apology and retraction from the Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Petroleum Commission, Emeafa Hardcastle, over comments allegedly directed at the Minority Chief Whip, Frank Annoh-Dompreh.
The issue arose before the vetting of Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, the Minister-Designate for Defence when the Appointments Committee briefly recessed. During this break, a verbal altercation reportedly took place between the Minority Chief Whip and Hardcastle.
As Frank Annoh-Dompreh was walking out of the room, Hardcastle allegedly made remarks including, “You are threatening me that you are taking me on because who are you? What do you mean by taking me on? You are a micro-minority. Doesn’t Afenyo-Markin himself use that phrase? I don’t have time for that. You think you can bully me here?”
In response, Annoh-Dompreh stated that he would take her on, raising concerns about the nature of the exchange and the potential implications of the comments.
Addressing the matter on the floor of Parliament, Haruna Iddrisu strongly condemned Hardcastle’s remarks, stating that they were damaging to Annoh-Dompreh’s reputation as an elected Member of Parliament.
He called for a public apology from Hardcastle, urging the Minority Chief Whip not to escalate the situation further.
“The justified request made by the Minority Whip regarding conduct infers damaging his reputation as an elected member of Parliament. Mr. Speaker, as I listened to him, we can only appeal to him that we share what the Hon. MP of Damongo said – that this house must stand united and unanimous in condemning the conduct and demanding an apology for it, but to persuade our colleague not to pursue it further, wanting this matter resolved at the Privileges Committee,” he stated.
Iddrisu also noted that bringing the matter to the floor of Parliament would send a clear message to the public and non-members of Parliament that the legislature has disciplinary powers, as vested in it by Article 122 of the 1992 Constitution.
The Leader of the Women’s Caucus in Parliament and First Deputy Whip of the majority group, Comfort Doyoe, also weighed in on the issue. She appealed to the Minority Chief Whip to withdraw his application to the Speaker to escalate the issue to the Privileges Committee, expressing her intention to address the matter personally.
“Mr Speaker, as a leader of the women’s caucus in this Parliament, I will plead with the Chief Whip to leave the case to me. I am going to meet with the lady in question and advise her on how to handle issues. This is a case between a woman and a man.
“Mr Speaker, the woman has apologised already, so I am pleading with the Chief Whip to leave the matter to the women and me, as the head of the Women’s Caucus, to advise her on how to address issues when she is in our premises and Parliament,” she stated.
