Alexander Afenyo-Markin is the Minority Leader in Parliament

The Minority Leader in Parliament, Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin, has rejected claims that he opposed the Public Holidays (Amendment) Act, 2019 before the House, insisting that “nothing has suddenly arisen” to justify the urgency attached to its consideration.

Speaking on the floor of Parliament on Wednesday, June 25, 2025, during deliberations on a report presented by the Interior Committee calling for the bill to be considered under a certificate of urgency, he stated, “I am right here in this chamber, and I will not sit for any Member of Parliament to attempt an interpretation of what I have said and try to spin it. Mr. Speaker, I rose at a point where the committee had presented a report for us to consider this bill under a certificate of urgency. My argument was to the effect that nothing has suddenly arisen.”

He contended that the Minister for the Interior had long been aware of the existing law and could have initiated the process much earlier if the government had truly prioritised the matter.

“Indeed, the Minister has always known that this law existed. And if the government was minded, it would have proceeded ahead of time,” he said. “I then went on to say that if the government intends to prioritise its agenda, there are socio-economic promises that must be fulfilled — and I listed them.”

The Minority Leader further noted that he had no issue with the Majority Leader’s earlier submission, which he considered “the usual politics”; however, he found it unacceptable to be misinterpreted.

“We talk — sometimes these things happen. But, Mr. Speaker, the path the colleague, the Deputy Minister, has taken to suggest that I got up to oppose the bill is unsupported by my submission,” Afenyo-Markin clarified. “My submission was in opposition to the sense of urgency he introduced. These matters have been long-standing, and he should have acted earlier.”

Parliament is currently considering amending the Act to reinstate July 1 as a public holiday. It is also seeking to restore August 21 as Founders’ Day.

JKB/KA

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