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Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, the Minority Leader, has appealed to Speaker Alban Suman Kingsford Bagbin to declare vacant the seats of four current sitting Members of Parliament (MPs) for contravening Article 97(1)(g) of the 1992 Constitution.
Article 97(1)(g) states that a member of Parliament shall vacate his/her seat if the person leaves the party that elected him/her to join another party or seek to remain in Parliament as an independent member.
Dr Forson in a statement on the floor of Parliament noted that the four MPs, who by their conduct contravened Article 97(1)(g) of the Constitution were Mr Peter Yaw Kwakye-Ackah, National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP for Amenfi Central, who is contesting the December 7 polls as an independent candidate and Mr Andrew Amoako Asiamah, an independent MP for Fomena, who is contesting on the ruling New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) ticket.
The rest are Madam Cynthia Mamle Morrison, NPP MP for Agona West, who is contesting as an independent candidate and Mr Kwadjo Asante, NPP MP for Suhum, who is also contesting as an independent candidate.
The Minority Leader said there was precedence in the matter that he had raised, declaring that a similar matter involving Mr Andrew Amoako Asiamah, the then NPP MP for Fomena, was referred to the House by the NPP in November 2020.
He noted that at that time, the NPP argued that by his decision to contest as an independent candidate, while he was sitting as an NPP MP, Mr Asiamah had vacated his seat according to Article 97(1)(g) of the Constitution.
He said the then Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Mike Ocquaye upheld the NPP’s position and took an action to enforce Article 97(1)(g) of the Constitution and ruled that the NPP MP for Fomena then had vacated his seat by his decision and conduct and hence, he cease to be a sitting MP.
“Mr Speaker, this ruling was not contested and had still not been contested and remains good and valid as a rule of this House. Right Honourable Speaker, we therefore call on you to enforce the existing rule of this House,” Dr Forson said.
He added that the decision applied to all four MPs, namely Mr Peter Yaw Kwakye-Ackah, NDC MP for Amenfi Central, who is contesting the December 7 polls as an independent candidate and Mr Andrew Amoako Asiamah, an independent MP for Fomena, who is contesting on NPP’s ticket, Madam Cynthia Mamle Morrison, NPP MP for Agona West, who is contesting as an independent candidate and Mr Kwadjo Asante, NPP MP for Suhum, who is also contesting as an independent candidate.
He said based on this fact; these four MPs were deemed to have vacated their seats accordingly.
“Right Honourable Speaker, this means that currently we do not have an independent Member of Parliament, NPP has 135 Members of Parliament having seen two of their members contesting as independent candidates, and the NDC has 136 Members of Parliament having lost one Member,” he said.
“Therefore, the NPP group cannot continue to hold itself as the majority caucus.”
Mr Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin, the Majority Leader and Leader of Government Business in Parliament, in his response to the statement, disagreed with the Minority Leader’s submission.
He argued that in the case of Mr Asiamah in the year 2020, there was a petition to the Speaker by the NPP for his seat to be declared vacant for going independent, however, in the current matter, there was no petition from any political party be it the NDC or the NPP and that Dr Forson’s argument had no legs to stand on.
He underscored that the matter being raised by the Minority Leader was a serious legal matter, which must be taken seriously by the House.
Mr Afenyo-Markin informed the House following Mr Haruna Iddrisu, NDC MP for Tamale to petition the Speaker on the subject matter, that he had initiated an action at the Supreme Court to invoke the authority of the Supreme Court to aid the House in resolving.
He said that the writ contains a motion for an interlocutory injunction and that the process had been duly served in Parliament.
The debate on the Minority Leader’s statement took an entrenched Party line, with the Minority NDC Caucus arguing in support of their Leader’s submission, while the NPP Majority Caucus strongly opposed it.
At the end of the debate, Speaker Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin said he would be using the next two days to write a thorough ruling on the matter raised by the Minority Leader.
He assured the House that he would deliver justice on the matter.
Source: GNA
