Adwoa Safo
Member of Parliament (MP) for Dome-Kwabenya, Sarah Adwoa Safo, will now have her fate to be determined by the entire House on whether she breached Article 97(1) (c) of the Constitution, by absenting herself from Parliament for more than 15 sittings.
It follows her failure to appear before an inquiry by the Parliament Privileges Committee to consider her absence from the House, without written permission from the Speaker, alongside two other MPs.
Now that the parliamentary committee’s inquiries are complete with no decision taken on her, according to DAILY GUIDE source, the burden has shifted on the entire House to make a determination.
Sarah Adwoa Safo has her summons published in all relevant media after all attempts by the committee to reach her to appear before it to answer for her absence proved unsuccessful.
The summons form part of the committee’s work, referred to it by the Speaker, Alban Bagbin, pursuant to Article 97(1) (c) of the Constitution, and Orders 15 and 16 (l) of the Standing Orders of Parliament.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) lawmaker, who is currently domiciling in USA, was referred to the Committee of Privileges in April this year alongside the MP for Ayawaso Central, Henry Quartey, and the Assin Central MP, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong over alleged delinquency.
The committee was to consider and report to the House on the absence of the MPs from Parliament for more than 15 sittings, without permission in writing of the Speaker, during the First Meeting of the Second Session of the Eight Parliament of the Fourth Republic of Ghana.
“The Committee has employed all available means, both official and unofficial to serve the Member with an invitation letter, including sending the invitation letter to her office and pigeonhole in Parliament, the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, where she superintends as the Sector Minister, her official email addresses, known social media handles, and through her Personal Assistant,” a statement earlier released and signed by Parliament’s Director of Public Affairs, Kate Addo, indicated.
It stated that the publication of summons was in pursuant to Article 103(6) of the Constitution and Order 205 of the Standing Orders of Parliament.
Article 103(6) of the 1992 Constitution says, “A committee [of Parliament] appointed under this article shall have the powers, rights and privileges of the High Court or a Justice of the High Court at a trial for (a) enforcing the attendance of witnesses and examining them on oath, affirmation or otherwise.”
The embattled MP was scheduled to appear before the committee on July 6, 2022 at 12:00 noon at Parliament House, New Administration Block, Committee Room I, 2 & 3 with an offer for her to choose to honour the summons via zoom, but failed to turn up.
Two Others
The two other MPs, however, showed up and participated in committee’s enquiries, with Mr. Henry Quartey blaming his absence from Parliament on knee surgery that kept him away, while Mr. Kennedy Ohene Agyapong used a sickness excuse to explain absence.
The Privileges Committee, DAILY GUIDE gathered, by 15-12 majority decision determined that the excuses of the Assin Central MP and Ayawaso Central MP were tenable and therefore, should not be made to vacate their seats as required by the constitution.
Background
Speaker Bagbin, in referring the three MPs to the committee, said evidence made available to him by the “table office indicates that three Hon. Members have so far absented themselves in this meeting for more than 15 sitting days without permission, as recorded in the Votes and Proceedings.
“Consequently, as it’s my understanding of the provisions of Article 97(1) (c) and Order 16(1) of the Standing Orders of Parliament, and the decision of the Court of Appeal in the case of Prof. Stephen Kawaka Asare vs. Attorney General and three others, I hereby refer the said Honourable Members to the Committee of Privileges for consideration and report to the House.”
He continued, “Since today (Tuesday) is the last sitting day of the meeting, I refer it to the committee, and I expect that the committee will submit its report two weeks after the House reconvenes.”
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House