Minority demands retraction of privileges referral against Afenyo-Markin

The Minority Caucus is calling for the immediate withdrawal of the referral of its Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, to Parliament’s Privileges Committee.

They described the move as an abuse of power and a violation of parliamentary and constitutional norms.

Addressing the press in Accra on Friday, November 28, 2025, Deputy Minority Leader and MP for Asokwa, Patricia Appiagyei, launched a direct critique at Speaker Alban Bagbin and Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga, insisting that the referral must be rescinded without delay.

Madam Appiagyei condemned the decision as politically motivated, characterising it as “the most cynical and constitutionally perverse action ever taken in the Fourth Republic.” She argued that the referral was designed to punish Afenyo-Markin for refusing to comply with what she termed an “unconstitutional and internationally unlawful” parliamentary resolution passed earlier on July 22, 2025.

According to her, the Speaker and the Majority leadership improperly invoked Standing Orders to justify the removal of Afenyo-Markin from Ghana’s delegation to the ECOWAS Parliament—an action taken while he was on medical leave and without consultation with the Minority.

“The moment I became aware of the plot, I wrote immediately to register my disapproval. I never consented to the removal of my Leader,” she said, noting that her letters to the Speaker pressing for a reversal were ignored.

She added that the Speaker nonetheless transmitted her name as replacement to the ECOWAS Parliament, a decision that triggered diplomatic concern. On September 8, 2025, she said, ECOWAS Speaker Memounatou Ibrahima dispatched a parliamentary diplomacy mission to Accra, citing violations of Article 18 of the Supplementary Act governing membership of the regional legislature.

“ECOWAS had to remind Ghana of the meaning of the rule of law. This was an embarrassment engineered by the Speaker and the Majority Leader,” she said.

Madam Appiagyei maintained that Afenyo-Markin’s refusal to step aside was not contempt of Parliament, but a constitutional duty to resist unlawful directives under Articles 1, 3 and 41 of the 1992 Constitution.

“The Minority Leader was not defying Parliament; he was defending Ghana’s constitutional order,” she stressed.

She further claimed that the Privileges Committee referral, submitted by Mahama Ayariga a day after the Minority blocked a controversial Chief Justice nominee, was retaliatory and aimed at silencing the Caucus.

The Asokwa MP outlined several demands, including the immediate retraction of the Privileges Committee petition, a formal apology from the Speaker and the Majority Leader to ECOWAS and the people of Ghana, and a new parliamentary resolution reinstating Afenyo-Markin to the ECOWAS delegation.

She also called for an end to what she described as coordinated political harassment of the Minority Leader by state agencies and NDC-affiliated groups, insisting that those who threaten lawmakers—including NDC Vice-Chairman Chief Sofo Azorka—must face prosecution.

“The NPP and the Minority stand with Afenyo-Markin not merely out of political loyalty, but because the rule of law demands it,” she declared. “We will defend our Leader, and we will defend Ghana’s democracy until accountability prevails.”