The Parliamentary Service of Ghana has debunked claims that a staff member attempted to stuff a ballot box with papers during the election of a Speaker, January 7.
According to them, such an act is impossible considering the nature of Parliament's voting system, and would have been easily found out, "further exacerbating the already volatile atmosphere on the floor of Parliament".
They explained that the staff member, a Deputy Marshall was only protecting the ballot box and not trying to rig the election.
In a press release, the Parliamentary Service stated that the Deputy Marshall's response to the scuffle in the Chamber reached for his taser which was positioned behind his belt to use in the protection of the ballot box.
"The Deputy Marshall then looked at the taser to turn it on and actually went on to use the taser to prevent one Member from forcefully taking the ballot box, which at the time had two votes cast in it.
"The box in question was taken away, and examined in the presence of some Leadership Members of the House. The Leader in question later came to the Chamber to assure his side of the House that nothing untoward had happened," they explained.
The Service further stated that Marshalls are mandated to maintain peace and order in the House, thus any action that threatened the peace was in clear contravention of their mandate.
"It must be pointed out that the Staff at all times during the night remained calm, saw to a peaceful resolution of all the issues, which culminated in the successful election of the Speaker of Parliament".
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