Chairman of the Governance and Assurance Committee of Parliament, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, had a fierce disagreement with the Minister for Works and Housing, Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, when the committee engaged the minister over the aftermath of the Akosombo dam spillage on Wednesday.

A disgruntled Oppong-Nkrumah did not mince his words when he addressed Mr Ablakwa following comments that allegedly described the Minister as "insincere" over the handling of the Akosombo dam spillage disaster.

Mr Oppong-Nkrumah alleged that the North Tongu MP was using his role as Chair of the Committee to bully government officials.

His comment was not taken lightly by Mr Ablakwa who in turn demanded a retraction and an apology.

"You will be well advised to watch your diction. I will not take that. To suggest that I am using this position as a bully pulpit. You have to retract that. Because that is not what I am doing here. I am well within my standing orders," Mr Ablakwa.

Mr Oppong-Nkrumah interjected, saying, "But it is okay for the Chairman of the Committee to accuse the minister of being insincere, of deflecting without more and I don't have the right to answer or to say I share a different view."

The banter got fierce and the media was advised to stop covering the meeting. Mr Ablakwa however, instructed the media to continue the broadcast.

The Member of Parliament for North Tongu has expressed outrage over the government’s prolonged failure to assist individuals affected by the Akosombo Dam spillage.

Despite the disaster occurring almost a year ago, many affected persons remain in camps without receiving compensation or necessary support to resume their lives.

Addressing a stakeholder public hearing, Ablakwa revealed that over 1,300 affected persons still live in camps, criticising the government’s approach as inadequate.

He highlighted the government’s inter-ministerial committee’s failure to engage with MPs from impacted areas, despite being established to address the issue.

“You heard the government set up a 30-member committee. We are the inter-ministerial committee. To be very honest with you, we are very disappointed that that committee has not met us even once. I mean, a lot of the members, we are in parliament with them. I would have thought that even if it’s parliament, we can meet here.”

“We can even meet at the cafeteria, even over coffee that, oh, share data with us or tell us what is happening. You know, not one meeting, not so, we don’t know if it was just maybe an announcement for the public for some cosmetic reason, but we don’t know.

The chiefs time without a number, they will even call us. You are in parliament with them. When is the committee coming? and we can’t provide answers because we are not, we haven’t been engaged.”