'Absentee' Adwoa Safo faces Privileges Committee on Friday

Sarah Adwoa Safo, the absentee MP for Dome Kwabenya, is expected to face the Privileges Committee of Parliament on Friday, May 27.

Her two other colleagues, Henry Quartey, MP for Ayawaso Central, and Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, MP for Assin North, are also expected to appear before the same Committee on Thursday, May 26 and

Read full articleTuesday, May 31 respectively.

These three NPP MPs have been dragged before the Committee for their breach of the consecutive 15-day absence rule - without permission - as provided in the 1992 Constitution and the Standing Orders of Parliament.

George Kweku Ricketts-Hagan, the Ranking Member of the Committee has officially written to all three MPs.

Speaking in an interview with JoyNews, the Cape Coast South MP said, the Committee Members will meet on Wednesday to outline the modalities as to how the interrogation of the three MPs will be done.

“May 25, [...] we will have the maiden meeting. 26th [May] which is Thursday is when we will invite the first MP in the name of Henry Quartey, who will be the first person. At the moment, it will be an in-camera meeting, but obviously, tomorrow’s meeting will put all the modalities together as to exactly how we are going to conduct it. But the invitation has gone out as far as I am concerned.

“The 27th [May] which is a Friday is Adwoa Safo, the 31st [May] which is the following Tuesday will be Kennedy Agyapong,” Ricketts-Hagan explained.

He noted that Kennedy Agyapong requested to be scheduled for May 31, because he would go for a medical review, but the other two MPs have so far not been informed of their intention to be absent.

"As far as I am concerned, I have not been informed by the Clerk that they have said they can’t come or whatever, so I assume that if they have received the invite, then we expect to see them. Only Hon. Kennedy Agyapong is the one that I know has asked for permission which myself and the Chairman discussed and we obliged that he can have that,” he stated.

Ricketts-Hagan stated further that any MP who fails to appear before the Committee will be cited for contempt of the House.

“Well, that is contempt of the House, straightaway. If you do that you are further complicating your situation, because we are on obligation here to obey the law and the Constitution of this country and a Member of Parliament should know better and this is a very serious matter to do with your being here in the House or not,” he stressed.

Background

The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin in April referred the three MPs to the Privileges Committee for breaching the 15-day absence rule of Parliament.

Alban Bagbin in his ruling to the MPs said, “I have accordingly come to the irresistible conclusion that a Member who absents himself or herself from 16 sitting days of Parliament in a particular meeting, without the permission in writing of the Speaker, falls squarely within the ambit of Article 97, clause 1(c) of the 1992 Constitution and Order 16(1) of the Standing Orders of Parliament.”