Minority MPs reject declaration of Kpandai seat vacant

THE Minority Caucus in Parliament has rejected the House’s decision to declare the Kpandai seat vacant, describing it as inconsistent with an earlier ruling delivered by the Speaker, Mr Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin.

The Caucus has therefore called on Parliament to withdraw the letter sent to the Electoral Commission (EC) on Monday, which communicated the declaration of the vacancy.

To demonstrate their displeasure, Minority Members, dressed in black, marched onto the floor of the House chanting and displaying placards with inscriptions such as “No Third Term, John Mahama,” “Kpandai Must Stop,” and “We Want Peace.” Their protest disrupted proceedings and compelled the First Deputy Speaker, Mr Bernard Ahiafor, to suspend sitting for five minutes.

Rising under Order 93(1) of the Standing Orders, the Minority Chief Whip, Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh, argued that the declaration of the seat as vacant contradicted the Speaker’s earlier ruling.

He said Mr Bagbin had indicated a few weeks ago that Parliament must not take action on the matter while an application for stay of execution was pending before the courts. He recalled that in a similar case involving the then Assin North MP, Mr James Gyakye Quayson, during the 8th Parliament, the Speaker ruled that it would be premature for Parliament to act before the judicial process was exhausted.

According to him, the same principle should have applied to the Kpandai matter.

“Mr Speaker, where an application for stay of execution is pending, any proceedings that seek to enforce the judgment must be halted.

“On November 24, 2024, you delivered a ruling on the Majority Chief Whip’s request for the Kpandai seat to be declared vacant.

“You clearly affirmed the binding nature of these rules,” he stated.

Mr Annoh-Dompreh questioned why the stay of execution rule was applied in one circumstance but ignored in another, especially when the facts and procedures were almost identical. He warned that the decision had the potential to create a political culture of retaliation between the Majority and Minority, which could undermine public confidence in the legislature and threaten the stability of Ghana’s democratic institutions.

“Today, this decision may benefit one side; tomorrow, the situation may favour the other. If we disregard the rules now, we leave future Parliaments with a trail of inconsistency that invites retaliation, weakens the authority of the Speaker’s chair and erodes public trust,” he added.

Meanwhile, the incumbent MP for Kpandai, Mr Matthew Nyindam, had not been spotted in the chamber of Parliament as at the time of going to press.

BY BENJAMIN ARCTON-TETTEY

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