By: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
Member of Parliament (MP), for Dome-Kwabenya Constituency in the Greater Accra Region, Madam Sarah Adwoa Safo has put deaf ears to the invitation extended to her by Parliament’s Privileges Committee to appear before them.
Madam Adwoa Safo in an interview with an Accra-based TV station revealed that she has not been served any notice to appear before Privileges Committee of Parliament.
According to her, she was hearing of the meeting billed for tomorrow Friday, 27th May, 2022 for the very first time today Thursday, May, 26, 2022 through her interview with the host.
“I am not aware such a thing has been given to me. I am just hearing it from you. As we speak, I don’t know that I have been invited.
“I have to be served,” she added.
But the Ranking Member on the Committee, Mr. Ricketts Kweku Hagan, in an earlier interview with the media stated that the Committee has officially written to all three New Patriotic Party’s MPs referred to the Committee for absenting themselves from Parliament without express permission.
“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.
But Madam Adwoa Safo has denied any knowledge of the hearing.
The Dome-Kwabenya lawmaker says she will only return to Ghana from the United States when her son is fit and healthy.
Adwoa Safo explained that she is currently taking care of her unwell son and has to ensure all is settled before she resumes her duties as an MP and a Gender Minister.
The embattled legislator was expected to appear before the Privileges Committee of Parliament on Friday, May 27, but the scheduled meeting has been postponed until further notice.
Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon A. S. K. Bagbin, referred three members of the House to the Privileges Committee, for their continuous absence in Parliament.
The three are; the Dome-Kwabenya MP, Sarah Adwoa Safo, Ayawaso Central MP, Henry Quartey and Assin Central MP, Kennedy Agyapong – all from the New Patriotic Party (NPP)’s side of the House.
According to the Speaker, the three legislators had breached the 15-day absence rule, hence his decision to refer them to the Privileges Committee for the necessary actions to be taken.
Delivering his ruling on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday, April 5, Mr. Bagbin explained that based on the relevant provisions of the 1992 Constitution and the Standing Orders of Parliament, the named NPP legislators are guilty of the absenteeism threshold for Members of Parliament.
“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,” he stated.
