First Deputy Speaker of Parliament and Chairman of the Appointments Committee, Bernard Ahiafor, has expressed concerns over the conduct of Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin, describing his approach to parliamentary business as unpredictable and sometimes excessive.

Speaking on PM Express on Monday, February 3, the Akatsi South MP noted that while he has a cordial working relationship with the Effutu legislator, he often struggles to deal with his shifting positions on committee matters.

"I have a very good relationship with him, but sometimes I find it very difficult to take the excess," Ahiafor stated. "I am one particular person who will not agree on one thing with you, and after a few minutes or a few hours, you behave as if that was not what we agreed upon. It pisses me off."

Ahiafor also rejected claims by Afenyo-Markin that the Clerk of the Appointments Committee had withheld reports or acted in a partisan manner. He insisted that all committee members, including the Minority Leader, receive reports in a transparent process.

“There is nothing that the clerk of the committee has put out there that we have not agreed upon. There is no occasion that the clerk will not give me and give the Minority Leader a draft report.

"Even if you go back to recap, there are instances where the two of us will be sitting down, and the clerk will hold two reports, give me one, and give him one—in the full glare of the camera,” he explained.

He further suggested that Afenyo-Markin’s past role as Majority Leader may be influencing his current approach, making it difficult for him to adjust to his new position in the Minority.

“It’s about time for him to realise that he is no longer the Majority Leader, but he’s a Minority Leader. He can use any adjectives to describe himself—mighty, happy, whatever—but for me, he is in the minority,” Ahiafor emphasized.

“It doesn’t look like he understands that, and sometimes I believe he forgets himself.”

Ahiafor also clarified that, by parliamentary convention, committee clerks take instructions from the Chairman, not the Ranking Member, contrary to Afenyo-Markin’s expectations.

"By our practice, clerks of the committee don’t take decisions from the Ranking Member. They take decisions from the Chairman of the Committee. That is why their letters mostly read, ‘I have been directed by the Chairman of the Committee,’ not the Ranking Member," he noted.

"But because he is coming from the Majority point of view, I think he sometimes forgets himself and fails to realise that he is now in the Minority.”

Meanwhile, Afenyo-Markin has maintained that the Minority Caucus will not be intimidated, despite its smaller numbers in Parliament.

"We are also beginning to observe a breakdown of security, law, and order within the precincts of Parliament, especially last night at the Committee room by some NDC thugs. These were hired, organized, and brought in to come and intimidate the Minority. But let me tell the NDC we are few, but we are a mighty few. We are fair in our conviction, we are determined, and we shall never surrender to their intimidation," he declared.