Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, an outspoken member of parliament for Ablekuma West, and Ibrahim Murtala Muhammad, an MP for Tamale Central, got into a fight on the House floor on Wednesday over offensive remarks made about the Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill (LGBT+), 2021, during the bill’s second reading.
Following the unanimous adoption of the report on the bill supported by Andy Appiah-Kubi, MP for Asante Akim North, the Second Deputy Speaker, Andrew Asiamah, allowed time for members to offer their input.
Murtala allegedly whispered at the back that Ursula practiced same-sex marriage, and Ursula’s response seemed to deviate from the general condemnation of the act.
He did not speak into the microphone, so it was impossible to consider what she said to be an official statement, but Ursula claimed to have heard it.
She allegedly indicated that Murtala was crazy in her response as well.
After she finished speaking, the MP for Ablekuma West caught the Second Deputy Speaker’s attention once more and demanded an apology from the MP for Tamale Central.
“I said so many things, may I please know which one I should withdraw,” he demanded.
When prompted to retract the statement by the Deputy Speaker, Murtala claimed that because he had not spoken into the microphone, he could not be asked to do so.
The second Deputy Speaker asked Cassiel Ato Forson, the Minority Leader, to urge his colleague to withdraw after he refused to do so.
Murtala then claimed that for the sake of peace, he had withdrawn all of his statements.
Ursula apparently lost her cool after his apology and repeated what Murtala had allegedly said for everyone to hear.
Later, she apologized if her remarks had also offended her colleague MP.
Watch the video below;
Ursula Owusu clashes with Murtala Muhammed in Parliament over LGBTQ+ Bill #UTVNews pic.twitter.com/NXXzZKT04Q
— UTV Ghana (@utvghana) July 5, 2023
