There was a heated argument in parliament on the last sitting of the second session of the eighth parliament.
Read full article On Thursday, July 28, when members of the house met, there was again a debate on Sarah Adwoa Safo following her long absence from parliament.
As part of items billed for the day, parliament was supposed to decide on the fate of Dome Kwabenya MP, Sarah Adwoa Safo, following her failure to make an appearance in parliament for more than 15 days.
While sitting was ongoing, the Speaker asked both leaders to decide what was next for the house to decide on. The majority leader then stood up to request the house considers the report of the privileges committee on the breach of Article 97 (1) c.
The majority leader argued that the committee had submitted the report to the house and the report had been laid for the information of the house and, therefore, a decision had already been determined concerning the three persons and the imperatives of article 97 would automatically be triggered.
He added that what was captured as a motion in the order paper had issues as the purpose of a motion is for the house to make a determination, one he considers already determined (by declaring the seat vacant).
"Mr Speaker, the privileges committee have submitted the report, and indeed my own thinking and the incumbent of the situation is that once the committee has made a determination in respect of the three persons, then the imperative of Article 97 will automatically be triggered.
"Mr Speaker, my thinking is that even what is captured here as a motion; the purpose of a motion is for the house to make a determination and thinking that rreally this is not for the house to make a determination.
"Mr Speaker, even locating it on the paper itself is unfortunate and indeed unnecessary and should not have been listed on the order paper. What came from the committee should be submitted to us as a paper."
"I raised the issue about procedure; how come we have a motion listed item 55 which reads that this house adopts the report of the privileges committee on the breach of Article 97(1).
"My initial issues have to do with procedure, and I said I'm convinced that this matter should not be subjected to a motion that will then mean the approval of parliament."
But in response to this, the Minority raised concerns that the majority did not move a motion but rather gave an opinion on the matter.
Haruna Iddrisu argued that the house is governed by the 1992 constitution and the standing orders of the house.
According to him, the house should not set a precedent that a seat can be declared vacant based on recommendations of a Privileges Committee report, a precedent that could likely affect the house subsequently.
Haruna Iddrisu emphasized that if a report has been submitted to parliament, the house must take a decision.
He insisted that the Minority is not in support of Adwoa Safo, but they are only against the procedure the majority is using to remove her by declaring the seat vacant.
"Mr. Speaker, you just referred the matter; we will respect your ruling on the matter of the referral to the Privileges Committee but to state that what the Honourable Member for Dome Kwabenya is doing is not right and is not acceptable, we are only disagreeing on procedure… and we will be guided with your expertise on this," he stressed.
He said the motion must be subjected to a debate, and then parliament will approve the recommendation and vote on it.
In April, three MPs were referred to Parliament's Privileges Committee by the Speaker, Alban Bagbin.
The Speaker's directive was in line with Article 97 (1) (c) of the 1992 Constitution and Order 17 of the Standing Orders of Parliament, which states emphatically that, "A Member shall not absent himself during a meeting for more than fifteen sittings without the permission in writing of the Speaker. Any member infringing this Order shall have his conduct referred to the Privileges Committee."
The Privileges Committee produced a report after meeting the two other MPs, Ken Agyapong and Henry Quartey, and presented it to parliament.
The Privileges Committee, in their report, said they could not reach Adwoa Safo; therefore, they could not come out with a decision, but the majority maintained that whether or not they heard from Adwoa Safo, the constitution stated clearly that the seat should be declared vacant as it was automatic for it to be so.
Based on the report, the house was asked to make a determination on the matter.
NYA/SEA