Political parties, according to Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin, do not have the right to remove any Member of Parliament, regardless of their reasons for opposing the member.
Only the Speaker, he claims, has the authority to make such a judgment.
Mr Bagbin reminded the New Patriotic Party (NPP) that they do not have the authority to remove Dome-Kwabenya MP Sarah Adwoa Safo from the House.
He explained that if a legislator behaves in a way that could lead to his or her expulsion, the privileges committee of Parliament will summon the legislator to appear before them and hear their answers. If the committee considers the action to be justified, the person will not be penalised, but if not, the case will be referred to the house for a debate.
He went on to say that after the debate, the Speaker would decide whether or not the lawmaker should be expelled.
“The phrase vacation of the post of Member of Parliament is used in the Constitution, and the circumstances are clear: when an MP is gone for fifteen sittings of Parliament, in a meeting, and a meeting is three months, it is not a session, which is twelve months.”
“Those are the words of the constitution,” says the speaker. Now, the origins of this provision can be traced back to the days of Nkrumah, when RB Okyere, a member of the opposition, was forced to flee to Cote D’Ivoire. While there, he sent leave of absences, which were always automatically approved, and he was to stay there for over two years, enjoying all of his service benefits and claiming to be receiving medical treatment. I’m referring to the gentleman who pleaded guilty in the 1963 treason trial.
“That is where the genesis began; it was twenty days at the time, and it is now fifteen days.” Some parliaments last ninety days, while others last considerably longer.
“Our constitution does not mention it being consecutive, but I’ve been receiving complaints from civil society calculating it during the session and just adding your days of absence and claiming that you should have relinquished your position.” However, when I examined a number of examples from other jurisdictions, they all stated that a meeting must be held for fifteen days in a row. That is the situation in which the Speaker will be asked to report the subject to the privileges committee, which will summon the member to come and explain why he or she was absent without the Speaker’s authorization.
“If a reasonable cause is offered, the person will not have departed his or her seat.” When the committee determines that the rationale is not reasonable, they will report to the House, which will discuss the issue and make a judgment. That is the procedure we follow; we haven’t yet visited the location, but there is a request for removal.
“When I hear my NPP colleagues declare they have removed Adwoa Safo, I wonder if they have that power. You can use your party to remove her as a member, which may have constitutional implications, but you can’t just sit down and announce you’ve removed her because only the Speaker has the authority to proclaim the seat empty.”
Meanwhile, Parliament’s Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has stated that Adwoa Safo’s absence from Parliament for more than fifteen days will be investigated.
In an interview with TV3’s Benjamin Aidoo on Monday, February 28, the Leader of the Government Business indicated when asked when the Gender Minister would return to Ghana, “In the course of the week she may come down hopefully.”
“Where we are, our regulations have enough procedures to deal with some of these problems,” the Suame legislator said when asked if she would be penalised for missing more than fifteen days of Parliament. “But it depends on whatever justification she has, if it is plausible.”
“That is why the instructions state that if a person is away from a meeting for more than fifteen days and is unable to present a reasonable justification, the committee of Privileges may suggest punishment, so it all depends on the information she brings.”
Adwoa Safo is accused of destroying the government by some members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP). For example, Michael Okyere Baafi, the MP for New Juabeng South, claims she is complicating the government’s job in Parliament.
“Adwoa Safo is to blame for all of the government’s issues.” On Kumasi’s Hello FM, he stated, “Clearly, her intention and posture reveal that she wants to sabotage NPP.”
Kennedy Agyapong, the MP for Assin Central, also revealed that the Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, provided him $120,000 to deposit into Adwoa Safo’s bank account so that she could attend to Parliamentary obligations and work for the government.
“The Chief of Staff summoned me, and I went to my mother’s grave, where the Chief of Staff handed me $120,000, which he put in Adwoa Safo’s Fidelity Bank account.”
“I put the money in the Fidelity Account there, and I’m going to ask her personal assistant if what I’m saying isn’t true,” an enraged Kennedy Agyapong stated.
“Now that we are in opposition, the way Adwoa Safo is handling the party, it is clearly demonstrating that we are in opposition, and this should not be accepted at all,” he said on Tuesday, February 22 on Asaase Radio.
Mr Agyapong had complained about Sarah Adwoa Safo’s behavior.
He claimed that the Minister of Gender, Children, and Social Protection had failed in life by asking to be appointed as the Deputy Majority Leader in Parliament.
He was perplexed as to why a cabinet minister would choose to take a post below that of a Minister.
Mr Agyapong, who has two children with her, said of her frequent absences from Parliament, “She says she wants to be Deputy Majority, that woman has failed in life.” She should go to hell since a full cabinet minister is now requesting that she be made Deputy Majority Leader before she arrives.
“You don’t come to Parliament because you’re dancing on TikTok?” Get this straight: Dome Kwabenya is not for Apostle Kwadwo Safo. I’m enraged because people are mocking me for going there to campaign for her. I campaigned against Mike Oquaye, the Speaker, whom I much admire, because Adwoa used my children, contacting me and begging me to assist her. And now everyone is criticizing me for it, but I don’t regret it since she is very responsible with the children,” he remarked on GTV on Monday, February 21.
“More than 15 days, and the statute specifies 15 days,” he said when asked how many days she has been away from Parliament.
“Why not?” he answered when asked if Ghanaians should anticipate her seat to be declared vacant. She should enter a TikTok competition.”
