First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Hon. Ebo Barton Odro, Thursday stopped members of the Privileges Committee of Parliament from taking on Prof Alexander Nii Otto Dodoo.
Prof Alex Dodoo, Director of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Advocacy and Training in Pharmacovigilance in Ghana, appeared before the committee on day two of its probe of his alleged use of contemptuous language against MPs and parliament.
Moments after Prof Dodoo had volunteered a personal “sincere and unconditional” apology to the house and its members for his comments that they had been ignorant in their discussion of news of the purported Ebola vaccine trials in the country and should therefore shut up, hands shot up into the air for an expected siege.
But Mr. Barton Odro, chairing the committee, stepped in with his caveat; “Honourable members you heard it all from the horse’s own mouth. Left to me alone, there should be no further questioning. We will prepare our report and send it to plenary and plenary will decide. We are not the final authority so I will want to suggest that we don’t ask any questions, I know you are not satisfied but I think that [brief silence] Honourable members I think we shouldn’t ask further questions and this is final, this is final, this is final.”
Mr. Barton Odro also ended the proceedings altogether by admonishing members that with Prof. Dodoo’s apology, he thought there was no need to hear from other witnesses who had been summoned in connection with publications or discussions of the offending comments.
Prof Dodoo himself had told the house never at any point would he disrespect the house or its members. “That is not my style, that is not my interest, but to the extent that my words, actions or inactions have led to that, I will offer, first to individual members and then to the house as a whole and to the good people of Ghana an unqualified apology.
“I did make certain comments, Mr Chairman relating to vaccines safety and I think it will even be paradoxical to be undermining parliament because I stress a lot on state institutions of which parliament is the foremost…” he said.
He said chairing the global vaccine safety initiative and having worked in vaccine and medicine safety for over 25 years and having been involved in virtually all the medicine and vaccine crisis in the country, he had come to develop a passion to get the work done in the national interest. “But to the extent that that national interest has been compromised by the heat generated by those unfortunate statements, once again Mr Chairman and honourable members, I would like to keep it short and say that I offer a sincere and unconditional apology to Mr Chairman, the house and also to the nation.”
On Tuesday, lawyer Yoni Kulendi, had on behalf of Prof Dodoo apologized to the house for the comments, saying it was not in his nature to denigrate the house or members and that he held them in high esteem.
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