The Majority has requested that the Speaker of Parliament reconvene the House before the end of November.
In a memo to the Speaker, Alexander Afenyo-Markin stated that this would enable the House to consider some critical matters essential to the government’s operations.
“I must emphasise, respectfully, that these are high-priority businesses for Government,” the legislator added.
He told the Speaker that “the Sixth Meeting of the Fourth Session of Parliament which was scheduled to take place on 7th November, 2024 adjourned without any consideration of Government Business.”
“Mr Speaker may recall that there were a number of urgent Government Business that had been advertised and scheduled to be carried out prior to the adjournment of the House.”
The Majority Leader stressed that a reconvening will “demonstrate that, even as we approach the peak of the electoral season, Parliament remains steadfast in its constitutional duties and committed to advancing the national interest through bipartisan cooperation.”
This comes a week after the Supreme Court ruled that the Speaker’s declaration of four seats as vacant is unconstitutional.
At a brief sitting on Tuesday, November 12, 2024, the Chief Justice, Gertrude Torkornoo said the Speaker’s declaration cannot hold
Background
On 17 October 2024, the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Bagbin, declared four parliamentary seats vacant with just two months remaining until the election in December.
The legislators affected by the declaration are Peter Yaw Kwakye Ackah of the NDC, representing the Amenfi Central constituency in the Western Region; Andrew Amoako Asiamah of Fomena in the Ashanti Region; Kojo Asante, NPP MP for Suhum in the Eastern Region; and Cynthia Morrison of the NPP, representing Agona West constituency.
Their seats were declared vacant because they announced their intention to contest the December election as independent candidates in their respective constituencies.
This declaration means that Ghana’s hung parliament, which previously gave the governing New Patriotic Party a slight upper hand, with the support of independent MP Andrew Amoako Asiamah, will now shift towards the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Following this, the Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, filed an injunction application at the Supreme Court in response to the Speaker’s declaration.
The Court subsequently issued a stay in execution of the Speaker’s declaration.
However, the Speaker filed an application requesting the Court to overturn their earlier ruling.
The Speaker’s legal team argued that the Supreme Court lacks jurisdiction over the suit filed by the Member of Parliament for Effutu, Alexander Afenyo-Markin.
For weeks, the controversy sparked widespread discussion among Ghanaians, especially the elite, with many suggesting that the impasse could affect government business and deprive the country of the necessary development and stability, particularly during upcoming election.