Member of Parliament for Adansi-Asokwa Kobina Tahir Hammond (KT Hammond)
The Member of Parliament for Adansi-Asokwa, Kobina Tahir Hammond (KT Hammond), has slammed the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, over his decision to once again adjourn the meeting of the House indefinitely.
Speaking to the media after the Speaker’s decision on Thursday, November 7, 2024, the MP indicated that the Speaker’s decision was totally wrong.
He stated that the Speaker had been instructed by the Supreme Court to stay his declaration of four seats in the House as vacant, which made the National Democratic Congress (NDC) MPs the majority, but he had not complied.
He added that his side of the House, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) MPs, did not show up for the proceedings on Thursday because the NDC MPs were seated on their designated side.
He asserted that the Speaker should not have allowed the NDC MPs to sit on the Majority side of the House.
“Why were the NDC MPs sitting there? Is that where they are supposed to be sitting?… Your guys are not listening. The Supreme Court has spoken. The orders of the Supreme Court were directed specifically to the Speaker. It was the Speaker. It wasn’t the leadership. It wasn’t the clerk.
“It wasn’t the leadership which made that decision. It was the Speaker of Parliament who unconstitutionally made the proclamation or whatever that he said the last time. The Supreme Court told him that he was wrong. Restore matters to what they were before,” he said.
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, once again suspended the sitting of the House sine die (indefinitely).
The suspension was due to the NPP MPs boycotting the House’s sitting on Thursday, November 7, 2024.
The Speaker explained that he had to suspend the meeting indefinitely because the House did not have the numbers to make decisions.
He also said that there was no business before the House for consideration because the Business Committee of Parliament did not meet to present one to the plenary.
Bagbin expressed his frustration about the absence of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Members of Parliament because he summoned the House upon the request of the leadership of the MPs.
On Tuesday, October 22, 2024, Alban Bagbin, adjourned the sitting of the House sine die (indefinitely), just a week after Members of Parliament reconvened following a long recess, citing a lack of quorum for decision-making after the NPP MPs boycotted proceedings.
The NPP MPs walked out of Parliament after the National Democratic Congress (NDC) MPs took over the Majority side of the House.
The Speaker declared four seats in the House vacant after he was petitioned by NDC MPs following the decision of the affected MPs to contest the upcoming December 2024 elections as independents or on different party tickets.
The declaration would have shifted the balance of power in Parliament, making the NDC the majority party.
However, the Supreme Court stayed the Speaker’s ruling on October 18, 2024, pending further review after the leader of the NPP MPs, Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin, challenged Bagbin’s declaration at the court.
The affected seats include those held by Cynthia Morrison (Agona West), Kwadjo Asante (Suhum), Andrew Amoako Asiamah (Fomena), and Peter Kwakye Ackah (Amenfi Central).
BAI/OGB