Patricia Appiagyei, the Deputy Minority Leader, has demanded the immediate reinstatement of Minority Leader Afenyo-Markin on Ghana’s ECOWAS delegation.
The minority also demanded a public apology from both the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin and the Majority Leader, Mahama Ayariga.
According to the minority, the referral of the Minority Leader to the Privileges Committee for contempt is an international embarrassment.
Speaking to journalists in Parliament on Friday, November 28, Deputy Minority Leader Patricia Appiagyei stated, “We demand the immediate withdrawal of the Privileges Committee petition. It is a gross abuse of process and an affront to justice. A public apology from the Speaker and the Majority Leader to ECOWAS and to the people of Ghana is necessary for the international embarrassment they have caused.
“We demand an end to the coordinated persecution of the Minority Leader by the Attorney-General’s office, NDC operatives and party foot soldiers,” she added.
The minority demands follow the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, referring Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin to the Privileges Committee for further investigation after embarrassing Ghana’s parliament in Nigeria.
Speaker Bagbin’s decision follows Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga’s petitioning him after the minority leader was excluded from Ghana’s ECOWAS delegation, but still showed up at the ECOWAS parliament in Nigeria.
Speaking on the floor of parliament on Thursday, November 27, the Speaker told the House, “I refer the complaint against the Minority Leader to the Privileges Committee and report to the House.”
“I urge the Committee to discharge its mandate with decorum and impartiality. I urge MPs to refrain from public commentary,” he added.
It will be recalled that in July 2025, Parliament adopted the composition of Ghana’s delegation to the Parliament of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
The Majority Leader moved the motion and proposed amendments, including the replacement of the Minority Leader, Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, with his deputy, Patricia Appiagyei, to meet the 30% female quota specified by ECOWAS.
He also changed Dr Bryan Acheampong as observer and made Millicent Yeboah Amankwah a member of the delegation.
Speaking on the floor of parliament on Tuesday, November 11, 2025, Ayariga recounted, “Mr Speaker, I think somewhere on the 22nd of July [2025], this House passed a resolution constituting the delegation of Ghana to the ECOWAS Community Parliament. Mr Speaker, if you recall, we had removed the name of the Minority Leader, Honourable Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, Member for Effutu, from the list of Ghana’s delegation to the ECOWAS Community Parliament,” he said.
“Mr Speaker, this resolution of this Parliament was communicated to the ECOWAS Parliament by, I believe, your good self. The ECOWAS Community Parliament convened to sit in Port Harcourt in the River State of Nigeria from the 25th to the 28th of September 2025,” he said.
Ayariga continued, “Our Parliament’s delegation, as constituted by our resolution, went to Port Harcourt and found the Honorable Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin sitting there, refusing to give way as directed by this Parliament.”
The Majority leader noted that when it was time for the new delegation to be sworn in, the ECOWAS Parliament initially refused, citing the conduct of Afenyo-Markin as disobedience.
He recounted, “Indeed, whilst our nominated delegation was there and it was time to swear in members, the ECOWAS Parliament refused to swear in Ghana’s delegation. They refused to swear in Ghana’s delegation and said that they will not (sic) …. They caved in and swore in four members of our delegation. Mr Speaker Afenyo-Markin was at that session of the ECOWAS Parliament, attended the session of the ECOWAS Parliament in clear defiance of a resolution of this Parliament”.