Member of Parliament for Kwadaso constituency in the Ashanti region, Kinsley Nyarko says the Tamale Central MP, Murtala Mohammed disrespected the Speaker of Parliament with his comment during the debate on the anti-LGBTQ+ Bill on Wednesday.

Speaking on JoyNews’ AM Show on Thursday, July 6, Prof Nyarko said that Murtala did not show any remorse to retract his unparliamentary comment.

According to Prof Nyarko it was discourtesy on the part of the Tamale Central MP after the Second Deputy Speaker asked him to withdraw the derogatory comments he was said to have passed at Ablekuma West MP, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful.

The professor added that the Tamale Central MP also disrespected the entire House even when the Minority Leader and the Deputy Chief Whip asked him to withdraw his comment.

“We are discussing a sensitive topic like this and you had a go at your colleague Member of Parliament when the Second Deputy Speaker was trying to plead with you to withdraw those words, you said no and he had to even talk to your leader Ato Forson to speak to you, all this, Murtala didn’t listen and even yelled undermining the authority of the Speaker, that’s not fair. At least give him that honour, that dignity as the Speaker of Parliament.

“I feel he disrespected the Speaker of Parliament because he didn’t retract those words and even when the deputy chief whip was asked to talk to him, he didn’t listen. Ato Forson himself, the leader of their side, he didn’t listen so he disrespected everybody,” Prof Nyarko said.

During the debate of the controversial anti-LGBTQ+ Bill in Parliament on Wednesday, July 6, Mr Murtala Mohammed was said to have described Ursula Owusu-Ekuful as a practitioner of LGBTQ, a charge he promptly denied.

While he was not on the floor, he is said to have passed the comment while his colleague South Dayi MP, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor was on the floor contributing to debate on the legislation of the Anti-LGBTQ bill. It led to a brief interruption as a protesting Ursula responded.

She was incensed by the development and accused the legislator of calling her a practitioner of LGBTQ.

“I sat here and repeatedly heard Hon Murtala refer to me as a practitioner of LGBTQ to the hearing of everyone in this house… and in response to that if I say he is mad, it is only a mad man who will refer to his colleague in this house as a practitioner of LGBTQ when you haven’t seen me having sexual intercourse with your wife or your daughter or your mother,” she flared up.

To this end, the Kwadaso MP asserted that it was needless for Murtala to pass such a comment to a colleague when he does not have the evidence to prove it.

“…I think that he has to tone down a bit, what he did to Ursula yesterday was needless, was uncalled for and was an attempt to demean the person of Ursula.

“That was not right and honourable members must be very careful about our utterances especially when it comes to women and our colleagues. You see, you don’t have evidence to support that. Why do you say she’s a practitioner of LGBTQ, you don’t do that.

“You don’t have the evidence so why do you even go there, we must respect each other,” he said.