Due to the absence of New Patriotic Party (NPP) Members of Parliament (MPs), Speaker of the House Alban Bagbin once again adjourned the session indefinitely on Thursday, November 7.
The Speaker said that without the NPP MPs present, the house would not have the quorum required to make decisions. In addition, there was no business before the house, which would have prevented any legislative action.
The planned emergency session, which had been called to discuss urgent national issues, was hampered by the NPP MPs’ absence from Parliament.
Speaker Bagbin was disappointed by the state of affairs, emphasising that the NPP MPs’ absence made the session useless and necessitated the temporary postponement of Parliament.
“There is no order paper for today because the business committee was unable to meet because the individuals who requested the recall were not present, and the items that they wanted us to handle—which I acknowledged for the business committee’s consideration—are not on the order paper.”
We are forced to postpone the house meeting once more due to the business committee’s inability to convene, which was caused by the refusal of those who asked for a recall to appear. It is not wise to be adjourning on a daily basis given the difficulties we are currently facing. Therefore, I’ll go ahead and adjourn the meeting indefinitely once more,” he said.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Caucus leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, attacked the NPP MPs after the adjournment and charged them with causing the state to lose money.
Resources were set aside to recall Parliament for the emergency session, but the NPP members did not show up, Dr. Forson noted.
He emphasised that this move squandered public funds and denied citizens the opportunity to advance legislation.
Dr. Forson called on the NPP MPs to behave responsibly, pointing out that their absence damaged the organization’s reputation in addition to interfering with legislative business.
He also urged Parliament to take action to stop such incidents, highlighting the necessity of all Members of Parliament being accountable and dedicated to carrying out their responsibilities to the country.