The Ranking Member of the Privileges Committee of Parliament has said the seat for Dome-Kwabenya Constituency has not been declared vacant.
The Committee, he said, was not able to meet with the MP for the constituency, Sarah Adwoa Safo to hear her side of the story and therefore agreed not to make any decision.
He stated her case will be referred to the Speaker of the House at plenary for a decision.
The Ranking Member, Hon. Kweku Ricketts-Hagan on Friday 16th July responded to media reports that suggested the clerk of Parliament has been authorised to declare Adwoa Safo’s seat vacant after failing to appear before the Privileges Committee.
“In the case of Adwoa Safo, we were not able to meet her. So the committee agreed not to make any decision on her and to refer the matter to the Speaker.”
“There was an article… that the chairman of the committee had gone public to say the committee had declared Adwoa Safo’s seat vacant, and that the matter is being referred to the clerk to basically proceed to the EC.”
“First and foremost, nobody in this Parliament apart from the Speaker has the right to declare anybody’s seat vacant. That was not the job given to us; our job was to hear the three colleagues and to find out whether there was a reasonable or legitimate reason why they didn’t come to Parliament and report to the Speaker,” Ricketts-Hagan added.