FLASHBACK! Speaker Mike Oquaye taking the Oath of Office from Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo
Parliament will sit this morning for the Chief Justice, Sophia Akuffo, to swear in the Speaker, Prof Mike Oquaye, for the second time in a week as acting president.
This follows a communication to the house yesterday by President Nana Akufo-Addo about his intention to attend the African Union (AU) Summit in Addis Ababa from January 27 to 29.
According to the communication, after the summit, the president would travel to South Africa to attend the funeral of a popular musician and Pan Africanist, Hugh Masekela, who died a couple of days ago. He will return to Ghana on 31st January.
The swearing in of Prof Mike Oquaye as acting president has been necessitated by the absence of both President Akufo-Addo and Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, who is currently on a medical leave in London.
However, some of the minority National Democratic Congress (NDC) MPs were not happy that parliament was being convened impromptu again, especially at the weekend, to witness the swearing-in of the Speaker per the dictates of the Constitution.
They said they needed to go to their constituencies for other engagements, but the majority leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, said the swearing-in would take a short time.
He admonished members to assemble in the chamber by 8.00 am, and by 9.00 am the ceremony would be over for them to visit their respective constituencies and attend other social events.
By Thomas Fosu Jnr