Parliament Suspends Sitting For The Third Time In A Week

Photo file: Parliament of Ghana

After the arguments, the sitting was adjourned with the 1st Deputy Speaker warning that MPs who were not in the house should be marked absent.0Parliament, for the third time, has adjourned a sitting without deciding on motions because the number of MPs present was less than the 92 needed to form a quorum.

Also, this will be the third time this week that the house has failed to take a decision on a loan agreement between the government of Ghana and the Federal Republic of Germany.

Akatsi South Member of Parliament, Bernard Ahiafor, raised an objection when the 1st Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei-Owusu who was presiding over the house, called for a vote for a decision to be taken on the loan.

The Akatsi South told Osei-Owusu that, “Mr. Speaker, with all due respect we are about to take a decision. The law is clear that to be able to take decisions we must have majority of the members present. Mr Speaker, I always maintain that when a procedure is set down for a right to be exercised, you follow that procedure in exercising the right, Mr. Speaker including yourself. We are not up to 138.”

According to Mr. Ahiafor, taking a decision on such matters without forming a quorum will have dire complications because it will violate sections of the constitution.

“Mr. Speaker we will be violating Article 104 (1) of the 1992 Constitution and we will be in contempt of the Supreme Court if you dare take a decision whiles we do not have the numbers.

"… this is a constitutional issue that I am raising based on Article 104 interpreted by the Supreme Court. We should be careful not to do anything unconstitutional. Mr. Speaker going forward constitution must guide us, we must operate within the ambit of the constitution, we must operate within the dictates of the law … the supreme law will not allow us take any other decision,” he argued.

For his part, the Deputy Majority Leader and MP for Efutu, Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, said that Ahiafor was being selective with his objection.

“We just took a decision on motion 23 but immediately after, he has a problem with the next motion.

“Then two, he now says that the basis of us proceeding is not right and the constitution and the constitution... Mr. Speaker, all the submissions he raised, I didn’t know what legal points he raised,” he said.

.ghanaweb.com