There was no show at the first Privilege Committee hearing in Parliament in connection with the three absentee Members of Parliament (MPs) as the Committee adjourned the case indefinitely.
The Committee’s scheduled meeting with MP for Ayawaso Central, Henry Quartey could not come off as it has been rescheduled indefinitely due to time constraints.
Mr Quartey who doubles as the Greater Accra Regional Minister is one of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) lawmakers who have been referred to the privileges committee by the Speaker of Parliament, Alban S.K. Bagbin for absenting themselves without permission.
The Committee was scheduled to start hearing today Thursday May 26, but that did not happen even though Mr Quartey showed up to response to his charges.
Speaking on the reason necessitating the meeting to be rescheduled, Ranking Member on the Committee, Kwaku Rickets-Hagan said tight schedule in Parliament caused the meeting to be adjourned indefinitely.
According to him, “We did have what we will call a very short or brief meeting with Honourable Henry Quartey this afternoon. Basically, he was scheduled to be with us this morning, the original time was 11O’clock. Because of activities in the house, we pushed it to to midday but it also happened that the Second Deputy Speaker is not around. So the First Deputy Speaker is working together with the Speaker in terms of taking terms in the House.
“We have some visitors with us from Canada that the Speaker is interacting with, so then, Honourable Osei Owusu who is First Deputy Speaker and Chairman of the Privileges Committee was meant to be on standby to take over from the Speaker at a moment notice. So we planned to reschedule the time to 2pm, Honourbale Quartey was already in, I was the first person to go in there at exactly 11 O’Clock but Honoruable Quartey came in. So, I had to inform the Chairman that this is what is happening.
“So when we asked him to come at 2pm, as you know he is also the Greeter Accra Minister, he informed us that he has something to do at 2pm. So then we had to meet up with him so Honurable Osei Owusu came and we started the meeting.
“As I said, he had an appointment at 2pm so even if we start the meeting, he might not be able to finish it, depending on what happens. On the other side, the chairman himself might have to come back into the Chamber to sit, so he too cannot guarantee his being there, and of course, constitutionally, I cannot chair the meeting, so then, the best way out was to try and adjourn the meeting for a future date.
“The Honourable Minister will also be out of the jurisdiction, he will be traveling, as he indicated to us, for about a week so then we had to, in the end, agree that we will convey a new date to him.”
The Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin referred Kennedy Agyapong, Assin Central MP, Sarah Adwoa Safo, Dome Kwabenya MP and Henry Quartey, MP for Ayawaso Central for absenting themselves from Parliament without permission for more than fifteen sittings.
But during proceedings, National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP for Asawase contested the Speaker’s ruling and said if the decision was allowed to stand, it would set a dangerous precedence which can be used by a “dictator speaker” in future to hurt lawmakers.
“If we allow this to stand it will become a precedent, tomorrow it may hurt all of us,” he said.
Former Kumbungu Member of Parliament, Ras Mubarak, petitioned the Speaker of Parliament to discipline these lawmakers for absenting themselves from Parliament without permission.
In his petition, he said “It has come to my notice through parliament’s Hansard, and newspaper and radio reports that some four Members of Parliament, namely Hon. Sarah Adwoa Safo, MP for Dome-Kwabenya; Hon. Henry Quartey, MP for Ayawaso Central; Hon. Ebenezer Kojo Kum, MP for Ahanta West; and Hon. Ken Ohene Agyapong, MP for Assin Central have all absented themselves from Parliament for more than fifteen sittings of a meeting of Parliament without the permission of Mr. Speaker in writing.
“In view of this reported breach of the constitutional provision, I respectfully petition your high office to direct for their conduct to be referred to the Privileges Committee for consideration and necessary action.”
By Vincent Kubi