Carlos Kingsley Ahenkorah, the Member of Parliament for Tema West constituency has stated that he has no regrets snatching ballot papers during the speakership elections held on January 7, 2021.
He believes doing so was necessary to secure the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) interests in the face of potential challenges posed by the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
The incident, which took place shortly after the votes were counted for NPP’s candidate Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye, saw him seize ballot papers from the Clerks before hastily leaving the scene.
According to him, he feared that an NDC victory, led by Alban Bagbin contender for the election, would hinder the NPP’s policy formulation in Parliament.
“So, what happened there was my dedication and commitment to NPP and my loyalty. Even though I don’t think I’m going to do it again, I don’t regret doing it.”
During the interview, he noted that his thoughts on the matter have been vindicated by the current state of affairs in Parliament.
He pointed out that the NPP is currently encountering robust opposition from NDC parliamentarians, who he believes are supported by the Speaker of Parliament, a situation he claims was the very scenario he sought to prevent.
“A lot of my colleagues did not understand why I snatched the ballots but today they turn to hail me. A lot of them say if they knew that things were going to be so tough in parliament as we experience today. A whole party, NDC parliamentarians mostly oppose our policies in parliament with the support of the Speaker of Parliament. How is that possible?” oyerepafmonline.com quoted him to have said.
He emphasized the significance of having a Speaker of Parliament from the ruling party, asserting that having a single Speaker aligned with the NPP’s goals is more effective than having numerous parliamentarians.
The incident on January 7, 2021, witnessed Ahenkorah’s move to seize the ballot papers after votes had been counted for the NPP candidate. However, his actions were stopped by Muntaka Mohammed, the then MP-elect for Asawase, who apprehended him and recovered the snatched ballot papers.
