Ghana’s SONA 2020: Minority in 'Black' walks out of Parliament, Majority in 'White' occupy minority seats to listen to the President

February 20, 2020 1:17 PM

Ghana’s Minority in Parliament walked out of the house on Thursday, 20 February 2020, just before the President could deliver his fourth State of the Nation Address.

Ghana’s SONA 2020: Minority in 'Black' walks out of Parliament, Majority in 'White' occupy minority seats to listen to the President

Clad in black attires, the men and women of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) protested against government’s failure to release some five percent of the District Assemblies’ Common Fund.

They were seen with placards, some of which read: “Free and fair elections” and chanted part of the national anthem refrain which says: "And help us to resist oppressors' rule with all our will and might forever more,"as they filed out of the chamber.

This was in fulfilment of an earlier promise of boycotting the 2020 State of the Nation Address.

While leaving the floor, the Majority side also chanted back: "Away!"

Soon after, the Majority members dressed in white redistributed themselves to fill the vacant seats before the President began his speech.

The country’s Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has, however, condemned the actions of the Minority.

In a tweet, he said, “we are setting very bad precedents in our democracy that have the ability to undermine the pillars of our governance. We need to be very careful not to destroy the things that uphold the state.”