NDC can’t kick me out of ECOWAS Parliament – Osahen Afenyo-Markin

Osahen Alexander Afenyo-Markin, the Minority Leader in Parliament has said the recent bizarre attempt by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Majority in Parliament to oust him from the ECOWAS Parliament would not work and he would continue to serve his full tenure as Third Deputy Speaker of the sub-regional body.

“The Minority Leader’s seat at ECOWAS Parliament is not one of those that can be removed. You can remove the Chief Justice. You can remove others that are political appointees but not his bonafide rights as a Member of the ECOWAS and the Third Deputy Speaker. He shall remain until April 2028 when his tenure shall have come to an end”, Afenyo-Markin told Parliament during his closing remarks moments before the House adjourned sine die on Friday 19th December 2025.

Afenyo-Markin also noted: “The Minority Leader would insist on his rights on serving his full term as a Third Deputy Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament therefore it is out prayer that the First Deputy Speaker and his Committee would resist all temptations of being pushed to do that which is never done in any democracy

“The Minority Leader has not disrespected any order of this House. Indeed the ECOWAS Parliament rejected out-rightly the resolution that sought to remove the Minority Leader from his seat as an ECOWAS MP”

The attempt to oust Afenyo-Markin is being led by Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga but has become an exercise in futility because per the laws governing the ECOWAS Parliament, the tenure of a Member, more so, an elected Deputy Speaker is fixed and as long as he has won his Effutu Constituency seat, no person, group or nation can remove him unless he himself voluntarily resigns, takes a position in the Executive or dies.

Under the Supplementary Act A/SA.1/12/16, governing the ECOWAS Parliament, a Member State cannot unilaterally or arbitrarily replace a sitting Member of the ECOWAS Parliament during their fixed term and any attempt to do so without meeting the legal conditions would be inconsistent with ECOWAS law and practice.

The law, in Article 18 (2) of the Supplementary Act clearly states that Members of the ECOWAS Parliament shall be elected for four (4) years from the date of the inauguration of the ECOWAS Parliament.

It explains that this mandate shall last until the last day of the legislature and the fixed term is protected and cannot be interrupted arbitrarily by national authorities.

It adds that once a Member is duly elected and sworn in, their mandate is independent of national political changes or internal reassignments.

It was categorical that based on Articles 24 and 25 of the Supplementary Act, the tenure of the Speaker and Deputy Speakers shall be for the life of the Legislature.

On the same subject, Madam Patricia Appiagyei, the Deputy Minority Leader, has accused the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin and Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga of leading a politically motivated collusion to ambush her into what she describes as a “cynical, diabolical, and constitutionally perverse scheme ever orchestrated within the precincts of Ghana’s Parliament.”

Patricia Appiagyei told a press conference last month that against her will and without her consent, and despite her official protest the Speaker Bagbin and the Majority Leader insisted on adding her name to Ghana’s delegation to the ECOWAS Parliament, with the diabolical agenda to kick out Osahen Alexander Afenyo-Markin, Ghana’s Minority Leader and a Deputy Speaker at ECOWAS Parliament.

She said though the New Patriotic Party (NPP) led Minority Caucus had presented its representatives to the ECOWAS Parliament and the list includes Afenyo-Markin, Mahama Ayariga a Majority Leader from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) side, decided to remove the name of Afenyo-Markin without any prior consultation or discussion whatsoever and that this removal of Afenyo-Markin’s name happened with he was on his sick bed in a hospital. She said Mahama Ayariga them put her name on the list as a replacement for Afenyo-Markin, again without her consent whatsoever.

Madam Patricia Appiagyei, affectionately called Mama Pat said when she officially wrote to Speaker Bagbin about the development and served notice that she was not interested in being a part of ECOWAS Parliament and that the Minority Caucus had decided that Afenyo-Markin should remain a member of the ECOWAS Parliament until the expiration of his tenure, Speaker Bagbin replied her saying Parliament does not need her permission or consent to make her a replacement for Afenyo-Markin.

“The Speaker’s reply, dated 25 July 2025, was as dishonest as it was dismissive. He acknowledged my concerns, then proceeded to ignore every substantive point I had raised. He defended a flawed process. He justified an action taken without consultation and he asserted that ‘Parliament is not procedurally bound to secure the prior consent of nominees. This is not parliamentary procedure. This is parliamentary dictatorship.

“Most egregiously, despite my written refusal, the Speaker sent a formal letter to the ECOWAS Parliament on 25 July 2025, deliberately including my name and excluding the Minority Leader’s. This was not an administrative error. It was diplomatic orchestration.

“I wrote again on 4 August 2025, demanding immediate rectification. I emphasised that the decision was a unilateral imposition by the Majority, that it usurped the Minority’s right to nominate our own representatives, and that it created a troubling precedent. I urged the Speaker not to legitimise this constitutional travesty. I was ignored again”, Patricia Appiagyei noted at a press conference last Friday, November 28, 2025.

Mama Pat said the incident caught the attention of ECOWAS Parliament and the sub-regional body had to intervene by drawing Ghana’s attention to the rules of that Parliament that Afenyo-Markin, as a sworn in Member, cannot be removed or replaced by his country’s Parliament or Government without his consent.

She said the ECOWAS Parliament had to follow up by sending a delegation to Ghana to resolve the needless mess that has been created yet, Speaker Bagbin and Mahama Ayariga were adamant.

“And now after orchestrating this constitutional travesty, after violating international law, after embarrassing Ghana before the community of West African nations Hon. Mahama Ayariga had the audacity to petition the Speaker to refer the Minority Leader to the Privileges Committee for performing his lawful duties as a sworn Member and Third Deputy Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament! This is not parliamentary oversight. This is vindictive persecution”, Mama Pat noted

She continued: “The timing is revealing. This petition came exactly one day after the Minority Leader led our side at the Appointments Committee to expose the NDC Government’s dishonourable attempt to secure parliamentary vetting for the then Chief Justice nominee, Paul Baffoe-Bonnie. This is retaliation, pure and simple.

“And the Speaker rather than dismiss this absurd petition out of hand has entertained it, dignified it with a ruling, and referred it to the Privileges Committee. This is not leadership. This is complicity.”

The Deputy Minority Leader said Afenyo-Markin was not obliged to respect a resolution that remain unconstitutional and fundamentally flawed.