The Speaker of Parliament has referred three majority MPs to the privileges committee for absenting themselves for more than 15 days without permission.
Dome Kwabenya MP Sara Adwoa Safo, Ayawaso West MP and Greater Accra Regional Minister Henry Quartey and Assin Central MP Kennedy Agyapong will have to provide a convincing explanation to the privileges committee chaired by first deputy speaker Joseph Osei-Owusu in order to keep their jobs as MPs.
Failure to do that will mean the House will automatically vote to decide their fate. Adwoa Safo has stirred controversy this year for failing to show up in Parliament without any explanation.
There have been reports that several attempts to get her to Parliament have failed.
The lawmaker’s absence from the House has caused rancour in the ruling party with some MPs accusing her of blackmailing the party.
The First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei-Owusu in an interview earlier this year indicated that the Majority Caucus does not factor Adwoa Safo into its deliberations in Parliament.
According to the Bekwai MP, all avenues to get the absentee MP to return to the House have proved futile.
Speaking on Kumasi-based Pure FM, Mr Osei-Owusu said, “in our strategy, we have taken it as going to rescue a kidnapped person, you presume she is dead, but if you go and she is alive, then it is God’s grace, and it adds to your gains, so that is our approach.
“So as it stands now, we don’t count her as part of us,” he stated.
