Charles Owusu has slammed the Minister of Communications and Member of Parliament for Ablekuma West, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful for throwing a tantrum at the Member of Parliament for Tamale Central, Murtala Mohammed on the floor of the Legislative House.
A heated clash broke out in Parliament on Wednesday, July 5, when the MPs were debating the anti-LGTBQ+ bill which seeks to criminalize homosexual acts in Ghana.
The bill is to provide for proper human sexual rights and Ghanaian family values.
It bans lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ+) and all related activities, therefore offenders will face a jail term or fine or both.
While the MPs were debating the bill, Hon. Ursula Owusu directed the mind of the Speaker to a distasteful statement she believed she had heard clearly made by her colleague MP referring to her as a practitioner of homosexuality.
The Speaker drew the attention of Hon. Murtala Mohammed and asked him to retract his comment but he refused to withdraw the statement, telling the House he had made no such comment.
"I said so many things, may I please know which one I should withdraw," he said but the comment Hon. Ursula Owusu strongly believed to have heard her colleague MP say infuriated her, thus giving the latter a corrosive reply.
"Mr. Speaker, I sat here and repeatedly heard Murtala refer to me as an LGBTQ+ practitioner to the hearing of everyone in the House. I sat here and repeatedly heard him shout at the top of his voice and refer to me as a practitioner of LGBTQ and every single last one of you is behaving as if you didn't hear. And if in response to that I say he is mad.
"It is only a mad man who will refer to his colleague in this House as a practitioner of LGBTQ when you haven't seen me having sexual intercourse with your wife or your daughter or your mother. When you haven't caught me having sexual intercourse with your wife or your daughter or your mother, you sit there and refer to me in those terms and we call ourselves honorable members of this House when you hear it and pretend that suddenly you've lost your sense of hearing", she replied.
To Charles Owusu, he wished the Minister had exercised patience and not spewed those unparliamentary words.
He advised Hon. Ursula Owusu to take note that two wrongs don't make a right and that the behavior she exhibited doesn't suit her character.
"I'm not supporting whichever word Murtala used but you see, when you look at the anger that my dear sister was exhibiting on Television, it doesn't befit the character of the person I know. Sometimes, we will be angered but we should have the patience to control ourselves", he said while discussing the matter on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" morning show.
