The Member of Parliament for Dome-Kwabenya constituency, Sarah Adwoa Safo, is on the brink of losing her seat following her absence from Parliament for 16 cumulative sitting days.
Article 97 (1) clause (C) of the 1992 Constitution, stipulates that any member of the House who absents himself for a period of 15 days is liable to vacate his or her seat.
It says a legislator shall lose his seat in Parliament “if he is absent, without the permission in writing of the Speaker and he is unable to offer a reasonable explanation to the Parliamentary Committee on Privileges from 15 sittings of meeting of Parliament during any period that Parliament has been summoned to meet and continues to meet”.
In the latest minutes from Parliament, Sarah Adwoa Safo who doubles as Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection was listed among MPs who absented themselves from the House without permission.
Meanwhile, Parliament’s standing orders on leave of absence indicates that “every member shall attend the service of the House unless leave of absence has been given him by Mr. Speaker” and “leave of absence may be given by Mr. Speaker to any Member who shows sufficient cause justifying his absence or who is away on official or Parliamentary duties”.
In this regard, the House is expected to act accordingly to restore calm following calls from some members including sections of her constituents and the general public for Speaker Alban Bagbin to declare her seat vacant, especially at a time when her presence was much needed.
The three-time Member of Parliament was supposed to avail herself for the passing of the controversial Electronic Transaction Levy (E-levy) on the part of the New Patriotic Party who need the numbers to realise the goal.
Her absence however, has been deemed to be holding the Akufo-Addo led government to ransom as means to restore her as the Deputy Majority Leader.
On February 14, an assistant to the Minister, Nana Dubin had indicated that his boss would arrive in the country by February 19, 2022 to partake in the proceedings of the Parliament and to attend to her constituents, but her flight had not touched down as at Monday February 21.
It is yet to be confirmed whether or not the legislator would be present in the next meeting in the chamber and whether or not she would be facing the Privileges Committee to answer to her absenteeism.
