The Minister-designate for Communication and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has disclosed that the incidents which transpired during the transition and inauguration of the 8th Parliament is a blot on the reputation of the House
Speaking during vetting proceedings by Parliament’s Appointments Committee on Monday, February 15, 2021, Mrs. Ekuful noted that, the attitude displayed by Members of Parliament was unbecoming of legislators of their standing. She admittedly stated that, it is not worth of being repeated.
“I want to put on record that as Members of the 8th Parliament a lot happened on January 7 that none of us is proud of. We can’t be proud of. And I have been a member of this House for 3 terms and I have never witnessed any incident like what took place on January 7, 2021.
“The events of January 7, 2021, are a blot on the reputation of the 8th Parliament. And I know that subsequently, we all realized that things got out of hand and we could have acted differently”.
During the inauguration ceremony of the 8th Parliament on January 7, it was characterized by several disagreements and some level of disorder, as some Members of Parliament of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) occupied seats on the majority side in the Chamber ahead of the dissolution of the 7th Parliament.
Mrs. Ekuful, the Ablekuma West MP, prior to the dispute had occupied her seat despite the takeover of the majority side by the NDC.
Despite calls by legislators from the NDC MPs move to join her colleagues on the NPP occupied side, Mrs. Ekuful resisted, prompting scuffle. Matters got worse as she subsequently had her seat pulled out from under her by MP for Ashaiman, Ernest Henry Norgbey.
Defending her action, on sitting on the laps of Mr. Dauda, Mrs. Owusu-Ekuful asserted that her attack on the Asutifi South legislator, Mr Dauda, was a reflex reaction to the initial attack on her. “The chair I was sitting on was pulled from under me and I fell to my knees right where I am sitting; so when I got up, instinctively, I made a connection that he (Collins Dauda) may have been in a cahoots with the gentleman who did that.
“And so I said, ‘if you are not going to let me sit on my chair, then I won’t let you sit on yours.’”… I have apologized to Hon Collins Dauda, I am yet to receive an apology from Hon Ernest Norgbey who pulled the chair and pushed me to my knees”.
Commenting Ghana’s COVID-19 Tracker App, she said it was developed for the country free of charge by some individuals who volunteered to develop the app for the country.
“Many countries, at the onset of the pandemic, tried to use technology to assist them in contact-tracing, and for people to self-report to give an overview of what is happening in the various countries to enable the health authorities handle the situation.
“Certain public-spirited individuals extended all kinds of support to the government, and some companies also offered to put their expertise at the disposal of the government, which we gladly accepted, resulting in the creation of the Tracker app. The app didn’t cost the government a pesewa. We did not pay anything for the app”.
