The Member of Parliament for Tamale South and Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has called on the Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Petroleum Commission, Emeafa Hardcastle, to publicly retract and apologize for comments allegedly directed at the Minority Chief Whip, Frank Annoh-Dompreh.
The incident reportedly occurred during a brief recess before the vetting of Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, the Minister-Designate for Defence. During this break, a verbal exchange allegedly took place between Hardcastle and Annoh-Dompreh as the latter was leaving the room.
Hardcastle is accused of making remarks such as, “You are threatening me that you are taking me on because who are you? What do you mean by taking me on? You are a micro-minority. Doesn’t Afenyo-Markin himself use that phrase? I don’t have time for that. You think you can bully me here?”
In response, Annoh-Dompreh reportedly stated he would "take her on," raising concerns about the tone and implications of the comments.
On the floor of Parliament, Haruna Iddrisu condemned Hardcastle’s remarks, describing them as damaging to Annoh-Dompreh’s reputation as an elected official. He urged Hardcastle to apologize publicly while appealing to the Minority Chief Whip not to escalate the matter further.
“The justified request made by the Minority Whip regarding conduct infers damaging his reputation as an elected member of Parliament. Mr. Speaker, as I listened to him, we can only appeal to him that we share what the Hon. MP of Damongo said – that this house must stand united and unanimous in condemning the conduct and demanding an apology for it, but to persuade our colleague not to pursue it further, wanting this matter resolved at the Privileges Committee,” Iddrisu said.
He further noted that addressing the issue in Parliament would send a clear message that the legislature has the authority to exercise disciplinary powers under Article 122 of the 1992 Constitution.
Comfort Doyoe, the Leader of the Women’s Caucus in Parliament and First Deputy Whip of the majority group, also addressed the matter. She appealed to the Minority Chief Whip to withdraw his request for the issue to be escalated to the Privileges Committee, offering to handle the matter herself.
“Mr Speaker, as a leader of the women’s caucus in this Parliament, I will plead with the Chief Whip to leave the case to me. I am going to meet with the lady in question and advise her on how to handle issues. This is a case between a woman and a man.
“Mr Speaker, the woman has apologised already, so I am pleading with the Chief Whip to leave the matter to the women and me, as the head of the Women’s Caucus, to advise her on how to address issues when she is in our premises and Parliament,” Doyoe said.
The situation highlights tensions between public officials and the importance of addressing such incidents in a manner that upholds the dignity of Parliament and fosters unity.