Former Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye
The former Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye, has weighed in on the issue of declaring a parliamentary seat vacant, he stated that the procedure to declare a seat vacant must reflect justice and must be per the law.
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Bagbin, has officially declared four parliamentary seats vacant. The affected constituencies are Amenfi Central, Fomena, Agona West, and Suhum.
A formal petition was submitted to the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin by Haruna Iddrisu, a prominent Member of Parliament from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and former Minority Leader.
The petition triggered extensive debates and arguments within Parliament, with both the Majority and Minority sides presenting their cases. According to the constitutional provisions cited in the motion, MPs who abandon their party affiliations to run independently are required to relinquish their parliamentary positions.
In an interview on Starr Chat with Bola Ray, Prof. Mike Oquaye asserted that before declaring a parliamentary seat vacant, some due procedures need to be followed to ensure justice. The procedure should be considered before the ruling since the ruling is the end result. He emphasized the need for the MPs in question to have a fair hearing before proceeding to rule their seats vacant or not.
“Ruling is the ultimate result. How do you go about it? A man found guilty of stealing must, of course, go to jail or be fined. That is the result. But before you get to that end result, there is a procedure you put before the court. When a man is caught with his hand in the till, he must nevertheless be given a hearing. They’ve caught you. They must go and tell a judge all that happened. And then they will see what you have got to say. And it is very important because that is the procedure.
He continued, “This is what we call in law, the Audi alteram partem rule. No matter what, do not say that, we have caught him, but he must be heard.”
Prof. Mike Oquaye also referenced the issue to a similar one that occurred in his tenure as Speaker of Parliament. This was in the case of the MP for Fomena, Andrew Asiamah. Prof. Oquaye added that the necessary procedures were taken to ensure justice and a fair hearing before declaring his seat vacant.