Nii Laryear AFotey-Agbo
Pressure is mounting on Joseph Nii Laryea Afotey-Agbo, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kpone-Katamanso and former Greater Accra Regional Minister, to step down as a result of his induction as caretaker chief of his hometown, Katamanso, near Ashaiman.
Some people have initiated moves to get Parliament to declare his seat vacant following his installation as Regent of Katamanso.
It would be recalled that in June 2017, Afotey-Agbo was installed as Regent of Katamanso and subsequently inducted into the Nungua Traditional Council in Accra.
His installation follows the incapacitation of his father, Nii Otu Akwetey IX, who is the substantive chief of the area.
Steps are being taken for Parliament to declare the Kpone-Katamanso seat vacant because it is unconstitutional for Mr Afotey-Agbo to represent the people in Parliament while serving as a chief.
Kwame Baffoe alias Abronye DC has threatened to petition Parliament to declare the seat vacant.
He believes that Mr. Afotey-Agbo’s actions contravenes Article 276 of the 1992 Constitution, which states that “a chief shall not take part in active politics, and any chief wishing to do so must or shall abdicate his stool or skin.”
He contended that the legislator would be in breach of the constitution if he does not step down.
According to him, “I’m told Parliament is resuming next week so I will officially file a petition to the Speaker of Parliament to address the issue because currently, I’m aware that the Member of Parliament for Kpone-Katamanso has been installed as an acting chief of the area. And if you read Section 58 of the Chieftaincy Act, Act 2008 as amended, it clearly talks about the categories of chiefs we have in this country and the last paragraph talks about other chiefs that may be recognised by the National House of Chiefs.
“If you are acting as chief in a certain traditional area, it means that you can be recognised by the National House of Chiefs, and that acting chief also performs his or her customary duties as the law demands. So clearly, he cannot continue to hold himself as a Member of Parliament. If he continues to hold himself as a Member of Parliament, it is a clear violation of the 1992 constitution and I’m appealing to the Speaker of Parliament to call on the MP for Kpone-Katamanso to vacate his seat to pave way for a bye-election to be held.”
In a quick rebuttal, the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) said the MP has not flouted the constitution.
The Greater Accra Regional Organiser of the NDC, Anthony Nukpenu, told Class Fm that “petitioning the speaker will be a waste of time because before the MP assumed the role, he consulted the leadership of the House, both Majority and Minority, he sought advice as to what he was supposed to do.”
But a private legal practitioner and law lecturer at Central University, Martin Kpebu, who spoke to the same Accra-based radio station, pointed out that the MP should resign his position since he cannot be a legislator anymore as a result of his installation.
He stated that “in my estimation, it’s unconstitutional for Nii Afotey Agbo to stay in office. As a person who has been nominated, elected and installed, what happens is that in practice, a regent performs the functions of a chief.
“It is not to say a regent has not been installed as chief, the question is that what does a regent do? Let us answer that question and by the end of that question you will be clear that a regent should not be in active politics. The regent traditionally performs most of the functions of a chief. I think he should resign as MP before somebody takes the matter to court.”
From Vincent Kubi, Tema