By Kwame Governs Agbodza, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for the Adaklu Constituency in the Volta Region, has reaffirmed his position as the Majority Chief Whip in Parliament.
He stated that the NDC caucus would occupy the majority side of the House when Parliament resumes on Thursday, November 7.
Agbodza explained that the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin’s declaration on October 17, marking four seats as vacant, remains valid since the affected members have shown no intent to withdraw their decisions to run as independent candidates.
He made these remarks while speaking at a campaign rally in Adaklu, Volta Region.
“I’ll be going to Parliament on Thursday as the Majority Chief Whip and I’ll come back as Majority Chief Whip. As far as I am concerned, the four colleagues have vacated their seats in accordance with Article 97, since they are not going to renege on that decision not to contest, they are no longer valid Members of Parliament”, he emphasized.
On Thursday, October 17, 2024, Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin, acting on a petition from Tamale South MP Haruna Iddrisu and invoking Article 97(1)(g) of the 1992 Constitution, declared four parliamentary seats vacant.
This ruling resulted in the NDC losing one member, bringing their seats down to 136, while the NPP lost three members, reducing their seats to 135, which created uncertainty in the House.
The affected members included NDC MP for Amenfi Central, Peter Yaw Kwakye Ackah; Kojo Asante, MP for Suhum in the Eastern Region; and Cynthia Morrison, MP for Agona West Constituency.
Andrew Amoakoh Asiamah, who originally won the Fomena seat as an independent candidate and later filed to contest the 2024 election under the NPP banner, was also affected by the ruling.
However, on Friday, October 18, the Supreme Court intervened, halting the Speaker’s decision. A five-member panel of the court, led by Chief Justice Gertrude Sackey Torkornoo, issued the ruling after an ex parte application by Majority Leader Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin.
The court’s ruling, which determined that declaring the seats vacant infringes upon the rights of the constituents of the four affected MPs, has been met with objection from the NDC caucus.
The Speaker of Parliament has since taken action to seek a reversal of the ruling by the Supreme Court.
