Speaker’s Decision to Declare Four Seats Vacant Is an Orchestrated Coup d’État – Former Sunyani West MP

Hon. Kwadwo Agyei Darko, former MP for Sunyani West Constituency, has voiced his shock over Speaker Alban Bagbin’s declaration of four parliamentary seats as vacant.

Hon. Agyei Darko, alleged that the ruling is an orchestrated coup.

Speaking on the Friday edition of Lawson TV/Radio’s ‘Ghana Se Sen’ Morning Show with Kwame Tanko, he criticized the Speaker’s use of authority, arguing he cannot accept the decision.

The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Bagbin has officially declared four parliamentary seats vacant with barely two months to the election in December.

This ruling means that Ghana’s hung parliament which gave the governing New Patriotic Party a slight upper hand as the Majority side with the support of an Independent Member of Parliament, Andrew Amoako Asiamah, will now tilt towards the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).

The legislators affected by the ruling are the NDC’s Peter Yaw Kwakye Ackah of Amenfi Central constituency in the Western Region, Andrew Amoakoh Asiamah of Fomena in the Ashanti Region, Kojo Asante, NPP MP for Suhum in the Eastern Region, and NPP’s Cynthia Morrison of Agona West constituency.

In delivering his ruling on Thursday, October 17, the Speaker after a long reading, stated that if Article 97 (1)(g) of the 1992 Constitution was only to apply to a future parliament, then there would have been no need for it to exist since the MPs in question would have completed the term of the current parliament.

Hon. Agyei Darko pointed out that the NDC and Alabn Bagbin frequently reference Hon. Andrew Amoako Asiamah, the independent MP for Fomena, but noted that Hon. Asiamah hasn’t formally resigned from the NPP.

“The NPP has not sacked the MPs who have decided to go independent, and they too have not resigned, so are you the one to nullify their positions?” he asked.

He questioned the validity of the Speaker nullifying positions of MPs who have not officially resigned or been expelled from the party.

“Hon. Agyei Darko recalled that in 2006, Hon. Alhassan Wayo Seini was an NDC MP. He wrote a letter to the Speaker stating that he had resigned from the NDC and was moving to the NPP, and the Speaker read the letter, meaning he had automatically resigned.”

He suggested that the best resolution would be to take the matter to the Supreme Court and supported the NPP MPs’ decision to boycott parliamentary sessions until a ruling is made.

However, Hon. Agyei Darko cautioned that such a boycott could disrupt parliamentary business.