Majority Chief Whip and MP for South Dayi, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, has accused Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin and members of the Minority caucus in Parliament of deliberately scheming to obstruct government business on the floor of the House.
Speaking on StarrChat with Bola Ray on Thursday, June 19, the outspoken MP claimed that disruptions from the Minority side are often carefully planned and not coincidental.
“Whatever Afenyo and co. do is deliberate. And whatever I do to resist them is also deliberate. Because if I don’t resist them, they will succeed in disrupting government business — and I fail as an officer,” he said.
Dafeamekpor likened the dynamics in Parliament to a tactical battle, where the government must anticipate and neutralise opposition attempts to derail policy direction.
READ: Parliament is a place to vent, not fight – Dafeamekpor on StarrChat
“It’s like you are sailing a boat and praying for calm seas. But the Minority’s job is to create a storm to shake your course — sometimes so you don’t get to your destination,” he explained.
He alleged that members of the Minority sit and “cook” strategies to make governance uncomfortable for the Majority, adding that it is his duty as Chief Whip to outmanoeuvre them.
“They actually cook. They sit down and cook it. If you’re a smart Government Chief Whip, you must have intelligence and pick that up. If you don’t build a network of intelligence gathering, then you are not effective,” he said.
Despite their political differences, Dafeamekpor said he maintains mutual respect for Afenyo-Markin, describing him as skilled at his role and a former classmate at law school.
READ: NPP isn’t our standard – Dafeamekpor
“Afenyo is good at what he does — he’s an obstructionist. But we are like two cockroaches: we fight but we don’t peck each other’s eye, because there’s life after the fight,” he noted, adding with a laugh that, “When he wants to create problems, then he says, ‘Roxy, we are brothers’ — that’s when you know mischief is coming.”
Dafeamekpor’s comments offer a behind-the-scenes look into parliamentary strategy and the delicate balance between political rivalry and procedural respect within Ghana’s legislature.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/Risa Wyettey Cofie
