The Parliament of Ghana has taken the centre stage again for the wrong reasons after members of the chamber were involved in an exchange of blows over the controversial E-levy bill.
On Monday Members of Parliament gathered to vote on the levy.
Sports Minister, Mustapha Ussif was among a host of legislators who were involved in an open exchange of blows during the chaos.
The government’s decision to push through with the imposition of an E-levy has been widely criticised by Ghanaians.
The E-levy, when introduced, will see Ghanaians pay a charge of 1.75% of the value of all electronic transactions. This includes mobile money payments, bank transfers, merchant payments, and inward remittances.
While the Majority in Parliament is determined to pass the bill after Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori Attah read the budget, the Minority has strongly opposed the decision.
On Monday, the MPs were supposed to vote in a headcount to decide whether the E-levy bill should be passed under a certificate of urgency.
However, while the voting was ongoing, chaos broke when the First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei Owusu, who was presiding over the House, decided to leave his seat to also vote.
The Minority maintained that Mr Osei-Owusu could not vote since he was acting as the Speaker.
They subsequently protested his move and attempted to seize his chair, which led to a physical exchange between both sides of the House.
In the middle of chaos, the Sports Minister got involved but received a heavy punch.
Video below…
Samuel Ekow Amoasi Appiah
Samuel Ekow Amoasi Appiah
Sports Journalist
