Africa

Ghana’s president urges unity after fight breaks out in parliament

Soldiers enter Ghanaian parliament to break up scuffle between rival politicians

Nana Akufo-Addo gives a speech after being sworn in during his inauguration as president of Ghana, in Accra. Photograph: Nipah Dennis/AFP via Getty Images

Thu Jan 7 2021 - 18:16

Ghana’s president Nana Akufo-Addo called for unity as he was sworn in on Thursday, after acrimonious elections that culminated in a fight on the floor of parliament.

Soldiers entered Ghana’s parliament overnight to break up a scuffle between rival politicians at odds over the December 7th general elections that marred the major cocoa and gold producer’s reputation for peaceful polls.

"I pledge before this august house and the good people of Ghana that all I do will be for the common good," Mr Akufo-Addo said on Thursday at a swearing-in ceremony attended by heads of state from across West and Central Africa.

He promised to boost growth, bring electricity to all, build more roads and achieve universal free healthcare.

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Mr Akufo-Addo was declared the winner of last month's presidential election with 51.59 per cent of the vote, ahead of former president John Mahama. His victory followed a vote tarnished by violence in which five people were killed, a rarity for a country that has a reputation as one of West Africa's most stable democracies.

Mr Mahama’s party has said it will contest the results in court, alleging fraud, though it has not published evidence in this regard.

Snatched ballots

The fight in parliament, which took place hours before the swearing-in ceremony, started when one MP from the president's New Patriotic Party (NPP) snatched some paper ballots during an overnight vote to determine the house speaker, according to a source who was present.

Soldiers are seen at the parliament of Ghana in Accra amid a scuffle between rival politicians. Photograph: Nipah Dennis/AFP via Getty Images

It was not immediately clear why the politician was angry. Last month’s elections left a hung parliament, without a dominant party to push through the appointment of the speaker and other key posts.

Footage on local television showed politicians, many of them unmasked, pushing and shoving before about 20 soldiers entered the chamber. Ranks of MPs then faced each other and chanted over a dividing line of masked soldiers and police.

Eventually, Alban Bagbin, the candidate from Ghana's other main party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), was voted in as speaker. – Reuters

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