According to the Majority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, the Speaker, Alban Bagbin erred in his ruling on Adwoa Safo’s absenteeism.
We’ll challenge Bagbin’s ruling on Adwoa Safo – Majority
The Majority in Parliament has served notice that it intends to challenge the ruling by the Speaker of Parliament on the MP for Dome Kwabenya, Sarah Adwoa Safo.
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Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu maintains that the Speaker erred in referring the matter back to the house, explaining that the ruling flies in the face of the constitution and threatened to challenge the decision.
“I totally disagree with the ruling. It doesn’t sit with the constitution and I must express my discomfort with this unfortunate ruling that has been made because it is very inconsistent. We will come back with a substantive motion to challenge the ruling”, Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said on the floor of the House right after the ruling.
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, on Wednesday, October 26, 2022, gave clearance for a report from the Privileges Committee on three absentee Members of Parliament to be tabled and debated in the House.
Mr. Bagbin dismissed attempts for him to declare some of the seats vacant without a formal debate of the Privileges Committee’s report.
In his ruling, Rt. Hon. Alban Bagbin said, “the preliminary objection for the admissibility of the report is hereby dismissed in limine.”
But at a press briefing shortly after the ruling, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu registered his disagreements, adding that the decision is detrimental to parliamentary business.
He argued that, the ruling of the Speaker should have been based on the reports of the Privileges Committee.
On May 4, the Speaker referred Madam Safo, Mr Henry Quartey, MP of Ayawaso Central, and Mr Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, MP, Assin Central, to the Privileges Committee for absenting themselves from 15 sittings of the House without his permission.
That was during the First Session of the Eighth Parliament.
The committee failed to achieve a consensus in its recommendations on whether absenting herself for more than the mandatory 15 days without permission warranted her seat being declared vacant.
The Majority, however, wants the seat declared vacant without delay in line with stated constitutional provisions.
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