Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga in the wake of the chaos that erupted during the vetting of ministerial nominees, made a passionate plea to colleague MPs to preserve the integrity of Ghana’s democracy.

Addressing the fallout from the disruptions, he stressed the need to uphold the nation’s democratic image, which has been admired globally.

“Ghana has one of the most beautiful and functioning democracies. The Ghanaian Parliament remains the envy of many parliaments,” he said, highlighting the country’s peaceful electoral transitions.

“We’ve had an election that was so beautiful, the losing side conceded, and the whole world acknowledged it. You could tell from the number of heads of state who came to witness the transition.”

The Bawku Central MP, deeply concerned about the destruction caused during the proceedings, urged all parties to exercise restraint.

“Please, let us not destroy that enviable image we have carved for ourselves as a beautiful, functioning democracy. I am pleading with all sides,” he appealed.

The chaos led to significant damage to parliamentary equipment, rendering the continuation of the vetting process impossible.

“As you can see, we would have continued, but logistically, it is no longer possible. The microphones have all been destroyed, and with that, it will be difficult for the media to carry the proceedings live. They may carry the images, but they cannot carry the voice,” he explained.

He stressed that the inability of the media to broadcast the proceedings in full would undermine the vetting process.

“Vetting is about assessing and evaluating the knowledge of nominees. As it is now, we in this room may be able to assess them, but the rest of the country will not,” he pointed out.

The situation was further compounded by the absence of technical staff, who had closed for the day.

“Even if they were here, some of the damaged machines cannot be easily replaced tonight. For that reason, it is practically impossible to continue,” he stated.

In light of these challenges, the Speaker announced a change of venue for the vetting process.

“Tomorrow, given that the facilities here have been destroyed, we will designate a new location within the House to continue with the vetting of the nominees,” he declared.

Before concluding, he issued a stern reminder to all involved.

“Let me caution everybody. All of us have supporters out there, and we all need to satisfy them. But when we are vetting, let’s make good use of the time allocated to us.

"We must be efficient so that we can vet as many people as possible and have ministers in place to deliver on the commitments Ghanaians endorsed.”