Sammy Obeng, executive director of the African Parliamentary Network, said Speaker Bagbin could have imposed a lesser punishment on Sefi Wiawuso instead of expelling him from parliament.
Member of Parliament, Dr Kwaku Afriyie, was on Monday, July 22, removed from the chamber by security officers at the Speaker’s command after making what the Speaker deemed to be “disrespectful” and “disrespectful” comments.
Dr Kwaku Afriyie accused the Speaker of making biased comments for referring a letter on a candidate to the Supreme Court to the Appointments Committee.
“Mr Speaker, with all due respect to you, Mr Speaker, this preliminary comment you are making is full of bias and I don’t think there is any lie in your mouth to remind us what you said on behalf of the good people of Sefiwe Wiawso, thank you,” the lawmaker said.
This remark infuriated the Speaker and led to the member being dismissed from parliament.
However, Sammy Obeng, while he disagrees with Senator Sefi Wiawuso’s comments, believes the Speaker “killed Ali with a sledgehammer”.
For Obeng, the Speaker’s decision was driven by emotions about the situation.
“Typically, when someone needs to be removed or expelled from a meeting, the chair will instruct the person to leave. If the person refuses, the chair will then ‘forcibly’ order the person to leave.”
“I think from the beginning, ordering the sheriff to take him out and the way it was done, there was more emotion in this particular situation. It could have been done better,” he said on 3FM’s The Hot Edition on Monday, July 22.
Obeng further said he did not find anything improper in the Speaker’s remarks to which the lawmakers responded.
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Speaker Bagbin removes Rep. Sefiwe Wiawuso from Parliament