Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has urged the Privileges Committee in parliament to address absenteeism of some Members of Parliament from the House without the Speaker’s permission.

According to him, MP for Dome-Kwabenya, Adwoa Safo, isn’t the only legislator who has been absented beyond the fifteen days deadline. Mr Ablakwa explained that it would be discriminatory for only Sarah Adwoa Safo to face the law if the other two MPs are allowed to go scot-free. He indicated that the other two MPs who have failed to show up in parliament are Ayawaso Central MP, Henry Quartey and Assin Central MP, Kennedy Agyapong.

Following this, Mr Ablakwa urged the House to “apply the law fairly” and avoid being discriminatory. He insisted that once this is done, it will put the matter in a context that is fair, balanced and non-discriminatory.

“I have gone through the votes and proceedings between October 24 and November 26, 2021, in our last meeting and I have discovered that the Honourable Henry Quartey and the Honourable Kennedy Agyapong missed eighteen working days consistently and consecutively. They have breached article 97(c) clearly and they have also flouted order 16(1) of our standing orders. I am saying that I welcome the discussion on the need for all Members of Parliament to take their work seriously for us to eschew absenteeism and to punish same; therefore, let us apply the law fairly in a non-discriminatory manner and let us ensure that the Privileges Committee when they come to sit on the matter relating to absenteeism, sit and consider all three MPs”.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa

The North Tongu legislator indicated that concerning the two MPs who were also absent from Parliament without permission from the Speaker, if one goes through the voting and procedures, “they are captured under the category of absent so they are not absent with permission for those eighteen working days and it’s a clear breach”. Mr Ablakwa intimated that he has done his checks and some of them have even “conceded that they really have fallen foul”.

Suspension of Adwoa Safo from parliament

Meanwhile, the Deputy General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Obiri Boahen, has rejected calls for the suspension of Dome Kwabenya MP, Adwoa Safo. He expressed that the party must exhaust and apply proper procedures before taking any final decision.

Mr Boahen emphasized that the Speaker of the House is the mandated authority to bring the MP to book as a result of her absence from Parliament and it is not the responsibility of leadership of the party.

“If for one reason or the other, a Parliamentarian is absent, it doesn’t lie in the mouth of the party leadership to bring that fellow to book… With all humility, we are not in a jungle, we are in a democratic country. We have three organs of government…if for instance, a Member of Parliament is absent for twenty or thirty days, it is the Speaker who will declare the seat vacant; anything short of that, legally that should not be the position”.
Nana Obiri Boahen

Since the resumption of parliamentary sitting, Adwoa Sarfo’s absence from Parliament has raised concerns among the party’s rank-and-file amidst calls for her suspension and dismissal from the party.