As Parliament reconvened on Thursday morning at the Accra International Conference Centre, only Members of Parliament from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) were present in the chamber by 8:30 a.m., taking seats on the majority side typically reserved for the caucus with the majority numbers.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) members had yet to arrive, creating a noticeable imbalance in the House.
The absence of NPP MPs did not go unnoticed by the NDC members, who voiced frustration, viewing the situation as a lack of commitment by the governing party to parliamentary business.
Joseph Bukari, the MP for Saboba, expressed his disappointment, describing their absence as disappointing and showing a clear disregard for parliamentary duties, especially at such a crucial time.
“The governing side are not serious and we are here to do business and they triggered the provisions for the Speaker to recall us and so we thought they would have been here for us to do business but they are not here.
“We are not supposed to be in the Chamber by 10 am, we are supposed to be in the Chamber before 10 am and the Speaker comes in at 10 am and so if none of them are here, then it leads us to conclude that they are not serious about government business and they are wasting our time and the Ghanaian peoples time and they are making unnecessary requests and keeping us in Parliament when we have work to do in our constituencies.”
The session was recalled by Speaker Alban Bagbin to address several pending issues, including budgetary allocations and legislative reforms, which have been delayed due to recent parliamentary tensions.
This early standoff, with NDC members occupying the seats usually held by NPP MPs, underscored the ongoing power struggle between the two parties.
The NDC has maintained that their attendance is a show of dedication to resolving national issues, while the NPP’s delay has only added to the existing tensions within the House.