Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Bernard Ahiafor, has ruled that parliamentary questions must be asked from a member’s designated seat, not from the Dispatch Box, rejecting Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin’s attempt to pose a question from the symbolic platform.
The ruling followed a tense exchange between the Majority and Minority Leaders on Tuesday over the interpretation of Standing Order 88(2), which outlines how members should pose questions listed on the Order Paper.
Delivering his ruling, Hon. Ahiafor referred to the Standing Orders to emphasise that no clause permits or implies that a member may move to the Dispatch Box to ask a question.
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“The member called shall rise and ask the question that stands in the name of the member on the Order Paper,” Ahiafor read from Standing Order 88(2). “This provision does not say the member shall rise and move to the Dispatch Box.”
He warned that accepting the Minority Leader’s interpretation would open the Dispatch Box to all MPs—an outcome he argued was not the intent of the rules.
The Deputy Speaker distinguished between the ceremonial and representative capacities of Members of Parliament, particularly caucus leaders. According to him, when a leader of the House is delivering a ceremonial address or concluding a national debate, such as the State of the Nation Address or the Budget, they may use the Dispatch Box. However, he stressed that when a question is filed in the capacity of a Member of Parliament representing a constituency, the member must rise at their designated seat to ask it.
He cited Standing Order 5, which empowers the Speaker to interpret the rules where ambiguity exists and to act in accordance with the Constitution and the full context of parliamentary practice.
“Standing Order 5 is very clear: where there is doubt, the Speaker shall interpret. In this case, I rule that any member—including a caucus leader—acting in their representative capacity must rise at their seat to ask a question,” he stated.