Alban S. K. Bagbin, Sarah Adwoa Safo
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban S. K. Bagbin is expected to determine the fate of the embattled Member of Parliament (MP) for Dome-Kwabenya, Sarah Adwoa Safo today, Thursday, July 28, 2022.
According to DGN Online sources at the corridors of Parliament, the Speaker will deliver a verdict on the fate of the lawmaker who doubles as Minister for Gender and Social Protection before the House rises today.
The ruling is coming after report by the Privileges Committee on her absence in Parliament had been laid before the House.
Though, the report revealed divided decision as to whether or not her seat should be declared vacant, the report says the committee recommended that the Dome-Kwabenya seat should be declared vacant.
This follows the failure of the committee to achieve a consensus in its recommendations on whether absenting herself for more than the mandatory 15 days without permission warrants her seat being declared vacant.
Per the report, the Majority wants the seat declared vacant without delay in line with stated constitutional provisions, while the Minority are of the contrary view, asking that the principle of natural justice, the seat should not be declared vacant because Adwoa Safo did not provide her side of the issue to the committee.
The Committee maintains that Adwoa Safo failed to take advantage of the numerous opportunities to explain her absence without leave.
The Majority MPs on the committee cited Article 97 (1) (c) of the 1992 Constitution and the Court of Appeal decision in the case of Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare v the Attorney General & 3 Ors, in this regard.
The Minority MPs on the committee, however, argued that according to the principle of natural justice, the seat should not be declared vacant because Adwoa Safo did not provide her side of the issue to the committee.
However, the committee determined that the excuse from her two other colleagues, Kennedy Agyepong and Henry Quartey for absenting themselves were tangible.
Adwoa Safo recently accused some of her colleague MPs including members of the governing party of political witch hunting.
By Vincent Kubi