House to decide fate of Adwoa Safo’s parliamentary seat

The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has ruled that the fate of the Member of Parliament for Dome-Kwabenya, Sarah Adwoa Safo, will be determined by the full House and not solely by the Privileges Committee.

The ruling follows the submission of the Privileges Committee’s report, which recommended that her parliamentary seat be declared vacant over her prolonged absence from sittings of Parliament.

Delivering his ruling on October 26, Mr Bagbin explained that while the Privileges Committee had completed its work, its recommendations were not final and must be debated and decided by Parliament.

“As I have noted in this ruling, the decision as to whether or not to admit a motion is the exclusive preserve of the Speaker. In view of the foregoing, the House is well within its rights to receive and consider the report of the Committee and make a determination arising out of the recommendation,” he ruled.

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He added that the motion had been properly admitted and that the committee’s report was subject to the consideration and decision of the House.

The ruling means Ms Adwoa Safo’s position as Member of Parliament for Dome-Kwabenya will ultimately be decided by Parliament through a vote.

The issue stems from the MP’s prolonged absence from parliamentary sittings during the First Session of the Eighth Parliament.

On May 4, Speaker Bagbin referred Ms Adwoa Safo, the Member of Parliament for Ayawaso Central, Henry Quartey, and the Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, to the Privileges Committee after they were absent from 15 sittings of Parliament without his permission.

The committee later concluded that the explanations provided by Mr Quartey and Mr Agyapong were satisfactory.

However, members of the committee were divided over the case involving Ms Adwoa Safo.

The Majority members argued that her seat should be declared vacant under Article 97(1)(c) of the 1992 Constitution, citing her failure to appear before the committee to explain her absence despite several opportunities.

They also relied on the Court of Appeal’s decision in the case of Prof Stephen Kwaku Asare v Attorney-General and three others in support of their position.

The Minority members, however, maintained that declaring her seat vacant would violate the principles of natural justice, arguing that Ms Adwoa Safo had not been given the opportunity to present her side of the matter before the committee.

With the Speaker’s ruling, Parliament is now expected to debate the committee’s report and determine whether the Dome-Kwabenya seat should be declared vacant.