Member of Parliament for Ablekuma West Constituency and Minister Designate for Communication and Digitization, Ursula Owusu Ekuful has given a detail account regarding the circumstances that led to her sitting on the laps of MP for Juaboso, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh on the night of the dissolution of the 7th Parliament and the inauguration of the 8th Parliament.
Responding to questions from members of the Appointments Committee when she appeared before them, Madam Ursula Owusu said the Juaboso MP had abandoned his seat for hers when she left the Chamber to visit the Washroom. Upon her return, she recounted, Mr. Akandoh refused to go back to his seat.
Justifying her decision to sit on the NDC MP’s laps, she stated that she had realized from the posture of Mr. Akandoh that he intended to provoke her, as result, she was compelled to sit on his laps without demanding for him to vacate the seat as that could have led to a confrontation between them, a situation she did not want happening.
The NPP MP disclosed that when she sat on Mr. Akandoh’s laps, he attempted to push her off his laps by violently moving back and forth but stopped abruptly upon realization that his actions would have led to “unintended consequences that will not be good for him”. She then decided to restrain her male colleague from further causing any “damage” to himself by physically subduing him.
“He saw that I had returned but refused to get up from the seat. I had few options opened to me. It was obvious that he was hoping to provoke an incident or confrontation with me. I didn’t want to be a party to such a scene but I did need to sit down. So I sat on the chair I was occupying before I went to the washroom which he happened to be sitting on.
When I sat down, he started trying to shake me off and was moving back and forth before quickly realizing that it would have had intended consequences that would not be good for him so he quickly stopped and froze. And at that point, I decided to restrain him from causing any further damage to himself and so I used physical restraint to subdue him. So it was physical restraint of an obstreperous adult,” she stated.
Pictures of Madam Ursula Owusu sitting on the laps of Mr. Akandoh during the dissolution of the previous Parliament and inauguration of the current went viral on social media generating public controversy. The incident took place when the NDC MPs-elect decided to occupy the majority side of Parliament compelling the NPP MPs to sit on the side of the Minority. But Madam Ursula Owusu insisted on occupying her seat on the Majority side leading to the incident.
She was criticized by a section of the public with some suggesting that her actions constituted harassment which has legal implications.
Mr. Akandoh, in interview after the incident, said his wife was threatening to take legal action against Madam Ursula Owusu for harassing him stating that contrary assertions that he enjoyed himself, he felt harassed.
But speaking on the incident during her vetting, the Minister Designate asserted that Mr. Akandoh was not courteous and was rowdy.
