The Deputy General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Obiri Boahen, has called on party faithful and members to “tread cautiously” with respect to the issues surrounding Member of Parliament for the Dome Kwabenya Constituency, Sarah Adwoa Safo.

According to him, even if there are legitimate reasons in calling for her removal, provisions of the 1992 Constitution and the dictates of Parliament must be duly followed in handling the issue. Mr Boahen indicated that despite MPs such as Kennedy Agyapong and Michael Okyere Baafi registering their concern on the matter, it must be handled well.

The Dome Kwabenya legislator has been accused by some colleagues of blackmailing the party and using her influence as a bargaining chip to secure favours. According to claims, she has deliberately been absenting herself from Parliament, thereby making it difficult for the NPP to gather the required numbers to facilitate the passage of the E-levy Bill.

“You have the Majority Leader, you have the Deputy Speaker, the Chief Whip, they’re all available. So, we need to tread cautiously; more so, when you’re reliably informed that she wrote to the Speaker and the Speaker requested that she should furnish him with medical reports; and better particulars of her illness. So, we need to be careful. If our friends, some of our friends, Baafi and Kennedy Agyapong, have voiced out their sentiments; perfect. But we are guided by rules and regulations. The Constitution of Ghana stipulates the time frame within which if a Member of Parliament is not available or present, then they can call for a by-election and it happened during the Nana Amoateng case in 2006. So, we need to tread cautiously”.
Nana Obiri Boahen

Mr Boahen emphasized that the Dome-Kwabenya MP is a “human being”. As such, if she has made complaints about her health and has formally informed the Speaker, then going forward, her case must be handled with proper discretion.

“Let us tread cautiously and wait for the next couple of days, and then we can give informed views and opinions, per the constitutional requirements”.
Nana Obiri Boahen

Member of Parliament for the Dome Kwabenya Constituency, Sarah Adwoa Safo

Ben Ephson calls for by-election to be held for Dome-Kwabenya constituency

Prior to this, the Managing News Editor of the Daily Dispatch Newspaper, Ben Ephson, called on the leadership of the ruling New Patriotic Party to make a definite decision on the matter.

He intimated that the unceasing absence of Adwoa Safo in Parliament poses a threat to the fortunes of the party. Mr. Ephson expressed that the legislator’s character must not be treated lightly and called for her replacement via a by-election.

“Clearly if the records there at Parliament show that she has absented herself without permission on health reasons, I think somebody should trigger that and the party should sack her for a by-election to be held. It’s going to be very difficult for her to win as an independent candidate, unlike the situation in the Ashanti region. She won the NPP primaries by eight; single eight votes. Not eighty; eight votes.
Ben Ephson

Mr Ephson explained that there is no way Adwoa Safo will win that seat as an independent candidate as the constituency is a “relatively safe NPP” seat and she won the party’s primaries by just eight votes against Mike Oquaye Jnr. He noted that even if she brought proof of some medical condition, she has crossed the line of political decency and comradeship.

“I think the President should sack her and if she has not fulfilled the rules for being absent for these number of days, they should sack her, have a by-election and she can contest as independent and she comes to Parliament and perhaps vote for NDC. So they should call her bluff and sack her from Parliament. She’s shown disrespect to the party that brought her to power”.
Ben Ephson