The Minority Caucus in Parliament staged a dramatic walkout of the plenary chamber on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, protesting a controversial ruling made by the First Deputy Speaker, Bernard Ahiafor.
The mass walkout was triggered during a heated questioning session directed at the Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, Samuel Nartey George. The Speaker disallowed the Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin from asking a supplementary question regarding the government’s intent to embark on a SIM card registration exercise.
The Minority Leader sought to understand whether the entire process followed legally appropriate procurement procedures. First Deputy Speaker, Bernard Ahiafor, is said to have repeatedly ruled against attempts to ask the follow up question, a situation which frustrated the minority bench.
The First Deputy Speaker ruled several supplementary queries out of order, arguing they deviated from the original, officially filed question on the order paper.
The ruling drew immediate, fierce objections from the Minority bench, who argued that the Deputy Speaker was actively shielding the Minister from critical democratic accountability. When Hon. Bernard Ahiafor refused to reverse his directive, the opposition Minority caucus rose, gathered their documents, and exited the chamber in protest.
Following the walkout, the Minority held an impromptu press briefing in the parliamentary corridors. They accused the leadership of the House of systematically undermining the oversight powers of Parliament and vowed to boycott subsequent ministerial briefings until fair, unhindered questioning is restored.
The Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin argued the question he sought to raise was firmly in the public interest, pointing to the financial implications of starting a fresh national SIM registration exercise.
“This is a government policy seeking to start SIM registration afresh. They claim people use unverifiable identities. Our question is, at what cost? How many people were identified to have used stolen IDs? Especially when the minister himself said it would be at no cost to subscribers,” he said.
“That’s a harmless question. It’s in the interest of the Ghanaian public to know how much it is costing the nation.”
Afenyo-Markin cited Order 89.1 of Parliament’s standing orders, which he said permits members to anchor supplementary questions on a Minister’s answer for clarification.
Despite the dramatic exit, the Minority Leader made clear the walkout was a targeted protest and not an indefinite boycott of parliamentary proceedings.
