2 unprecedented times NPP MPs turned against their own

With every news headline coming out of the eighth parliament of the fourth republic of Ghana, it is becoming even more convincing to state that this parliament has some of the most interesting things happening in it. To think that the election of the first non-member of the incumbent party in government to be Speaker of Parliament was perhaps the biggest surprise, it cannot be lost on people that this parliament is the first hung parliament in the country’s history. The middle-line split of 137 to 137 Members of Parliament on the Majority and Minority sides of the House, with the MP for Fomena, the only independent legislator choosing to side with the Majority Caucus, even more unprecedented things have rocked the legislative arm of the country. From debates, to forming quorums for decisions to be taken in the House, to attempts to lobby the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, among many other parliamentary proceedings, it has become clearer than ever the need for parliament to work through consensus. But the most shocking of the events that have characterized this parliament since it was constituted on January 7, 2021, has been the major moves made by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) MPs against their own people, and their government. And because these things have never happened in the history of the country, they have offered further reasons to support the fact that this hung parliament may just have been one of the best things the country has ever had, politically. GhanaWeb explores two of the major times that the Majority Caucus in parliament had led some historic moves in parliament, all of which have been against their very own. Majority MPs want Sarah Adwoa Safo’s seat declared vacant: With an already mounting pressure on the entirety of parliament to take a decision on the continuous absence of especially the Member of Parliament for Dome Kwabenya, Sarah Adwoa Safo, her colleagues on the same side of the House made a more profound move: they wanted her out. Reports from July 2022 indicated that the MPs on the Majority wanted the seat declared vacant without delay, in line with stated constitutional provisions, a story by citinewsroom.com stated. According to them, their colleague, Sarah Adwoa Safo, had failed to take advantage of the numerous opportunities to explain her absence without leave to them. It is worth noting that unlike two other MPs who were dragged along with Adwoa Safo to the Privileges Committee of Parliament for their absence in the House (Kennedy Agyapong and Henry Quartey), the latter had not even made any attempts to remedy the situation. Still based in the United States of America and having only returned briefly about twice in more than a year, her colleagues have been concerned about her supposed lack of interest in even returning to work. Citing Article 97 (1) (c) of the 1992 constitution and the Court of Appeal decision in the case of Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare v the Attorney General & 3 Ors, the Majority MPs called for her seat to be made vacant. MPs on the Minority side however objected against it. The case is yet to be determined as the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has twice ‘saved’ the Dome Kwabenya MP, basing his reasons on the fact that the report of the committee that looked into the matter is tabled for a debate in parliament. Majority MPs demand removal of Ken Ofori-Atta: In another case of mounting pressure, the MPs on the Majority side made an unusual, shocking announcement: sack the Minister of Finance. Their message was to the president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. Decided by some 80 NPP MPs, the group of Members of Parliament demanded that the president sacks the minister, as well as the Minister of State at the finance ministry, Adu Boahen, to restore public confidence in the economy. This was announced in a media briefing by their spokesperson, Andy Kwame Appiah-Kubi, Member of Parliament for Asante-Akim North, in Parliament on Tuesday, October 25, 2022. The group said it will not do business with government nor support the 2023 Budget if the president fails to heed their calls. According to them, the move follows previous concerns sent to the government that have not yielded any positive results. "We have had occasions to defend allegations of conflicts of interest, lack of confidence, and trust against the leadership of the Finance Ministry. “The recent development within the economy is of major concern to our caucus and our constituents. We have made our grave concern to our president through the parliamentary leadership and the leadership of the party without and positive response,” Andy Appiah Kubi said. The MPs believe the move will change the current economic situation in the country. “We are by this medium communicating our strong desire that the president changes the Minister of Finance and the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry without further delay in order to restore hope into the finance sector and reverse the downward trend in the growth of the economy,” he added. President Akufo-Addo has since held a meeting with the MPs, requesting that they give Ken Ofori-Atta some time to conclude a few things first. In a statement dated October 26 and signed by Majority Leader and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, he said that it is after these two events that calls for Ofori-Atta’s sack shall be acted upon. “Following the Pres Conference held on Tuesday, 25th October, 2022 by some Members of the Majority Caucus in Parliament demanding the removal of Minister of Finance, Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta and the Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance, Mr. Charles Adu Boahen from office, the President engaged Members of the Caucus and requested that the issue be stood down until the conclusion of the round of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the presentation of the Budget Statement and Economic Policy in November 2022, and the subsequent passage of the Appropriation Bill after which time the demand shall be acted upon,” portions of the statement said. AE/WA