Henry Quartey
MEMBER OF Parliament (MP) for Ayawaso Central, Henry Quartey, has earned toasts from his colleagues after he blamed his absence from Parliament on knee surgery that kept him away for 15 sitting days of the House.
The NPP MP, who is also the Greater Accra Regional Minister, gave the explanation when he appeared before the Privileges Committee on Wednesday to foil an attempt to have him vacate his seat as a lawmaker over allegation that he has breached Article 97(1)(c) of the 1992 Constitution.
Mr. Quartey reportedly said he could blame his absence on the knee surgery he underwent and found it difficult to walk, while maintaining a deadpan delivery even as howls of murmuring began.
At an earlier sitting of the committee, his colleague for Assin Central, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, used sickness excuse to explain absence from Parliament for 15 sitting days of the First Meeting of Second Session of the House.
He told Parliament’s Privileges Committee that his absence from the House was inadvertent due to ill health, which took him out of the jurisdiction.
On April 5, 2022, Sarah Adwoa Safo of Dome Kwabenya; Henry Quartey of Ayawaso Central; and Kennedy Ohene Agyapong of Assin Central were referred to the Privileges Committee for allegedly absenting themselves from the House for more than 15 sitting days without permission.
The Speaker, Alban Bagbin, who made the referral, said evidence made available to him by the “Table Office indicates that three of the 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.”
“I trust that the Committee of Privileges will consider this matter with the urgency and seriousness it deserves as the public interest in this matter is amazed. More importantly, we make the law and we must be seen to be obeying and complying with the laws we make,” he added.
The Speaker said the legislature has to set leadership by example, and “I strongly believe this is one of the cases we must show commitment to what the people have elected us to do.”
He indicated that a search on the attendance of members from the commencement of the Eighth Parliament of the Fourth Republic, conducted by the table office on the First Session, was interesting and revealing, and said MPs needed to take the attendance to Parliament more seriously.
“The First Session of the House has already expired, and unfortunately this issue of absenteeism was not addressed in any of the three meetings of that session. I consider that it will be improper,” he noted.
Adwoa Safo
Meanwhile, the Dome-Kwabenya MP, who has allegedly failed to show up at the Privileges Committee meetings, had her summon published in a newspaper, following a directive by the Chairman of the Privileges Committee of Parliament, Joseph Osei-Owusu.
This came after all attempts by the committee to reach her to appear before it to answer on her absence from Parliament for more than 15 sittings, without written permission from the Speaker, proved unsuccessful.
The NPP lawmaker, who is the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, is currently domiciling in the USA where she claims to be looking after her sick child.
A statement released on June 14, 2022 and signed by Parliament’s Director of Public Affairs, Kate Addo, explained that 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.
According to the statement, the committee is to consider and report to the House on the absence of the Member 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,” the release indicated.
It stated that the publication of summons was 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.”
BY Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House