The Majority Chief Whip of Parliament, Nelson-Rockson Dafeamekpor, says he takes responsibility for the chaotic events that transpired during the Appointments Committee’s sitting on 30th January, acknowledging the role of leadership in the outcome.
The clash between the majority and minority sides of the House during the vetting of ministerial nominees led to the destruction of public property, prompting the formation of the investigative committee by the Speaker, Alban Bagbin.
“I take responsibility, so when my punishment came, I took it in good faith,” Dafeamekpor said, in response to the fallout from the incident. He acknowledged that while some disagreed with the distribution of punishment, his stance on accountability remained unchanged.
Speaking before the special committee set up to probe the disturbances on February 10, Mr Dafeamekpor mentioned that there were disagreements among those involved regarding who should face repercussions for the disruption that took place.
“Others disagreed that essentially if punishment were to be meted out, it ought not to be me,” he explained. However, he maintained that it was important to punish leaders when things go wrong.
Reflecting on the failed consensus-building efforts that led to the chaos, Dafeamekpor highlighted a crucial turning point.
“Consensus building failed for that night. If my counterparts were not minded to insist on their modus operandi for that day, we wouldn’t have experienced that,” he continued.
He pointed out that the situation escalated when certain individuals insisted on disrupting the proceedings, raising tables and chairs, making it difficult to maintain order.
“Once they decided to disrupt, raise tables, raise chairs, what can I do? What could I have done?” he questioned. “Just to suffer for the punishment.”
Dafeamekpor concluded his remarks by stressing that many aspects of the situation could have been better managed.
“A lot of things ought to be streamlined,” he said, leaving open the possibility for future reforms to prevent such disruptions from occurring again.
Read also: A change of venue could have averted the vetting chaos – Dafeamekpor
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