By Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
The Majority leader of Ghana’s Parliament, and Member of Parliament (MP) for Effutu constituency in the Central region, Mr. Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin has filed an urgent legal action with the Supreme Court (SC) to prevent the Speaker of Parliament from declaring four seats in vacant.
Mr. Afenyo-Markin’s rush to file a lawsuit against the Speaker of Parliament for declaring the four seats vacant way before the the issue was brought to the House has sparked an outrage among some lawmakers and political watchers.
The legal suit lodged by the Effutu lawmaker at the registry of Ghana’s apex court on Tuesday, October 15, 2024 seeks urgent clarification on the status of two New Patriotic Party (NPP) MPs whose decisions to contest the upcoming December 7 polls as independent candidates and an independent candidate who has filed to contest the parliamentary election on the ticket of NPP.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamale South Constituency, Northern Region and a former Minority leader, Mr. Haruna Iddrisu over the weekend announced his intention to file a petition to have three MPs who have filed with the Electoral Commission to contest the upcoming polls as independent candidates and an independent MP who had also filed to contest the election on the ticket of a political party barred from carrying themselves as MPs.
However, the Effutu MP upon hearing the intention of the Tamale South lawmaker to impress upon the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin to declare the seats of four MPs vacant rushed to the SC to seek protective cover for his embattled MPs.
Mr Afenyo-Markin’s action appears to be a pre-emptive strike against the opposition’s stated intention to invoke Article 97(1)(g) of the constitution over the status of the three MPs.
Article 97(1)(g) of the 1992 Republican Constitution of Ghana, states that: “A member of Parliament shall vacate his seat if he leaves the party of which he was a member at the time of his election to Parliament to join another party or seeks to remain in Parliament as an independent member.”
The three MPs at the center of Afenyo-Markin’s legal challenge are; Cynthia Mamle Morrison, the current NPP MP for Agona West constituency in the Central Region, Mr. Kwadwo Boafo Asante, the current NPP MP for the Suhum constituency in the Eastern Region, who have filed to run as an independent candidate and Mr. Andrew Asiamah Amoako, currently an independent MP for the Fomena constituency in the Ashanti Region, and the 2nd Deputy Speaker who has filed to run in the upcoming election as a candidate for the ruling NPP.
The Majority leader argues that these MPs’ actions, intended for the next parliamentary term, should not affect their current status in the 8th Parliament.
