Kwame Governs Agbodza, a member of parliament for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Adaklu Constituency of the Volta Region, has made it clear that he is still the majority chief whip. This means that when the house reconvenes on Thursday, November 7, the NDC caucus will be on the majority side of the chamber.
He asserts that since the impacted members have not indicated that they will withdraw their intention to run as independent candidates, the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has the right to declare four seats empty as of Thursday, October 17.
At a campaign event at the Volta Region’s Adaklu, Mr. Agbodza was giving a speech.
“I’ll be going to Parliament on Thursday as the Majority Chief Whip, and I’ll come back as Majority Chief Whip. As far as I am concerned, the four colleagues have vacated their seats in accordance with Article 97, since they are not going to renege on that decision not to contest, they are no longer valid Members of Parliament,” he emphasized.
Invoking Article 97 (1)(g) of the 1992 constitution in response to a petition from Tamale South MP Haruna Iddrisu, Speaker of the House of Representatives Alban Bagbin announced the vacancy of four seats in Parliament on Thursday, October 17, 2024.
The decision caused the House to become uncertain as the NDC side lost a member, bringing their number of seats down to 136, and the NPP side lost three members, bringing their number down to 135 seats.
The decision had an impact on Cynthia Morrison, who represented the Agona West Constituency, Peter Yaw Kwakye Ackah, the NDC MP for Amenfi Central, and Kojo Asante, the MP for Suhum in the Eastern Region.
Additionally impacted was Andrew Amoakoh Asiamah, who ran as an independent and won the seat of Fomena before filing to run on the NPP ticket in 2024.
On Friday, October 18th, however, the Speaker’s judgment was overturned by the Supreme Court. Chief Justice Gertrude Sackey Torkornoo presided over the five-member panel that made the decision. This came after Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, the Majority Leader, filed an ex parte application.
The NDC caucus has challenged to the verdict, which stated that the declaration of the seats empty violates the rights of the constituents of the four impacted Members of Parliament.
Since then, the Speaker of Parliament has moved to have the decision overturned by the Supreme Court.
Source:Mybrytfmonline.com/Joseph Asare
