Minority should accept recommendations on Adwoa Safo – ACEPA

The Executive Director of the African Center for Parliamentary Affairs (ACEPA), Dr Rasheed Draman, has observed that the reality of hung Parliament is playing out in the face of the citizenry following issues involving the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dome Kwabenya Constituency in the Greater Accra Region, Adwoa Safo.

“On the face of it, we would have thought that the Minority in Parliament will be happy about the position of the Majority in Parliament because the number of the Majority will reduce, then hopefully, if the Minority put up good competition that might be chance for them to tilt the balance,” he alluded.

Adwoa Safo, the MP for Dome Kwabenya and two other New Patriotic Party (NPP) MPs, Kennedy Agyapong, MP for Assin Central Constituency in the Central Region and Henry Quartey, MP for Ayawaso Central Constituency in the Greater Accra Region were hauled before the Privilege Committee of Parliament for absenting themselves from Parliament without permission.

This was after the Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin received a petition against them from Ras Mubarak, former MP for Kumbungu Constituency, and the Committee accordingly met Mr Agyapong and Mr Quartey; however, they could not meet Ms Safo, who has been out of the country for over a year now.

According to Dr Draman, the posture taken by the Minority attested to the fact the realities of the hung Parliament were playing out on citizens, and every decision to be taken in the House should now be looked at from the balance of power perspective.

The Committee, by a majority decision, decided Mr Agyapong and Mr Quartey admitted having absented themselves for more than the 15 sittings threshold; however, the explanations given by them for being absent were found reasonable, but with regards to Ms Safo, in spite of all the efforts made to invite her to meet the Committee did not appear to provide reasons for her absence from the House without written permission.

The Minority members on the Committee conceded reasonable efforts were made to get Ms Safo to appear before it, but the Minority members on the Committee stated lack of response from her to numerous invitations of the Committee should be reported to the House without any conclusions and declare her seat vacant.