‘An egregious assault on parliamentary authority’ – Minority reacts to verbal attack on Annoh-Dompreh

Deeming the altercation between the two as an attack on the leadership of the Minority Caucus in Parliament, they said that her actions also represent an attack on the dignity of Parliament.

“The Minority Caucus unequivocally condemns the reprehensible and contemptuous conduct exhibited by Ms Victoria Emeafa Hardcastle, Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Petroleum Commission, against the Leadership of Parliament. Her behaviour on Tuesday, 28th January 2025 represents one of the most flagrant attacks on parliamentary dignity in recent memory and demands an appropriately stern response from the House.

“Ms Hardcastle’s attempt to direct the Minority Chief Whip. Hon. Frank Annoh-Dompreh, on the execution of his parliamentary duties, coupled with her unconscionable description of a senior Member of Parliament as ‘silly,’ constitutes an egregious assault on parliamentary authority that cannot go unchallenged. Such conduct strikes at the very foundation of our democracy and must be met with the full force of parliamentary sanctions,” a statement from the Minority Caucus, dated January 29, 2025, said.

The statement, signed by Minority Leader, Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin, added that the decision by Alban Bagbin, Speaker of Parliament, to personally listen and get to the root of the matter, tells of the gravity of what happened.

They, therefore, want the Speaker of Parliament to appropriately activate the sanctions under the Standing Orders of Parliament that merit the severity of what the Petroleum Commission boss did.

“We expect that the appropriate sanctions under our Standing Orders, including fines, imprisonment, restriction from parliamentary precincts, and mandatory public apology, will be applied with appropriate severity to reflect the gravity of this offence,” the statement added.

Meanwhile, Alban Bagbin is to deliver a determination on this matter on Friday, January 31, 2025.

What happened between Annoh-Dompreh and Emeafa Hardcastle:

An altercation occurred between the Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Petroleum Commission, Emeafa Hardcastle, and the Member of Parliament for Nsawam Adoagyir, Frank Annoh-Dompreh, during a sitting of the Appointments Committee on Tuesday, January 28, 2025.

While the cause of the altercation between the two is not clear, a video of the incident shared by Channel One TV shows that the MP took offense at the description of his caucus as ‘micro’ by the Petroleum Commission CEO.

In response, the Minority Chief Whip allegedly threatened to take Hardcastle on, a statement she did not take lightly.

“You are threatening me that you will take me on because you are who? My friend, don’t bring yourself. What do you mean you are taking me on?” she fumed.

Annoh-Dompreh, however, emphasised the offense in the descriptive words used by the acting CEO to describe his caucus.

“You called us micro minority?” the MP questioned.

“But you are a micro minority. Doesn’t Afenyo (Minority Leader) himself use that phrase?” Hardcastle retorted.

“You think you can bully me here?” she added.

Amidst the melee created by their encounter, the MP accused the acting CEO of referring to him as “silly.”

“Please, please, please. You cannot call me silly… We will deal with this matter,” he stated.

The Appointments Committee of Parliament on Tuesday, January 28, 2025, delayed the vetting of some nominees of the president over some claims made by civil activist, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, against the committee on social media.

The committee chairman, Bernard Ahiafor, expressed disgust over the claim that members of the committee demand bribes from nominees before approving their nomination by the president.

The committee chairman thus directed the secretary of the committee to issue a summons to the activist to appear before the committee on Wednesday, January 29, 2025.

Watch video of the incident below:

‘My friend, don’t bring yourself[…] you call me silly, we will deal with this matter’ – An altercation between Ag. Petroleum Commission boss, Emeafa Hardcastle and Hon. Annoh-Dompreh after the recess of the appointments committee over defamatory comments made by Oliver… pic.twitter.com/Ltp8WwURSJ

— ChannelOne TV (@Channel1TVGHA) January 28, 2025