Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko
Leading member of the New Patriotic Party, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, has asked members of Ghana’s Parliament to be guided by maturity and avoid anarchy when the House resumes on Tuesday for business.
According to the private legal practitioner, who is also a cousin of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, leaders from the two caucuses in the House must meet to agree on pertinent issues before Tuesday’s meeting.
“Parliament must, by all means, avoid a situation of seeming chaos and anarchy on Tuesday. I suggest the two leaders and the Speaker meet before then to agree or agree to disagree on the next steps. Not long to Dec 7, let maturity be our guide and guard,” he wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday, October 20, 2024.
Gabby’s advice comes on the back of the declaration of four seats vacant by the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, and a subsequent grant of an ex parte application by the Supreme Court setting aside the Speaker’s declaration.
Speaker Bagbin, on Thursday, October 17, 2024, declared four seats vacant in accordance with Article 97 (g) and (h) of the 1992 Constitution.
As part of his ruling, the Speaker also cited precedent in the 2020 case of Fomena MP, Andrew Amoako Asiamah.
However, the Supreme Court, on Friday, October 18, 2024, issued a stay of execution on Speaker Alban Bagbin’s ruling, which declared four parliamentary seats vacant.
Parliament has thus been directed to recognize and allow the affected MPs—Cynthia Morrison (Agona West), Kwadjo Asante (Suhum), Peter Kwakye Ackah (Amenfi Central), and Andrew Asiamah (Fomena)—to fully represent their constituencies and carry out their official duties.
The directive remains in effect, not for the 10 days initially requested by the applicants, but until the Supreme Court delivers its final ruling on the case.
The application to stay the Speaker’s decision was filed by New Patriotic Party (NPP) Members of Parliament, who sought the Court’s intervention to halt the enforcement of the ruling that would have affected three of their colleagues and one from the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Meanwhile, the National Democratic Congress caucus has maintained that it remains the Majority side of the House by virtue of the Speaker’s declaration and will go ahead and assert their rights on Tuesday.
GA
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