South Dayi lawmaker, Rockson-Nelson Etsi Kwami Dafeamekpor, has filed a writ at the Accra High Court against the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin.
The Member of Parliament, in the writ, is demanding the High Court to compel the Speaker to confirm the status of the four seats that were declared vacant.
The MP further claimed that the Speaker should declare that the four legislators have vacated their seats to contest the upcoming election on tickets other than the one that brought them into the House.
The legislator is also demanding in his writ, that any composition of Parliament after October 17 which involves the affected members is unlawful and illegal.
According to Dafeamekpor, who is also a private legal practitioner, the October 17 ruling is valid because the Speaker’s move is backed by provisions of Article 97(1)(g) and (h) of the 1992 Constitution.
“An order should be directed at the Defendant to ensure that Mr Andrew Amoako Asiamah, Member of Parliament for Fomena; Mrs Cynthia Mamle Morrison, Member of Parliament for Agona West; Mr Kwadwo Asante, Member of Parliament for Sohum; and Mr Peter Yaw Kwakye-Ackah, Member of Parliament for Amenfi Central, no longer have access to the chamber of Parliament to participate in parliamentary proceedings,” portions of his writ contained.
His suit follows a declaration by the Speaker of Parliament based on Article 97, that, some four MPs who have switched camps in the next election no longer deserve to be in the current Parliament, saying they have vacated their seats.
On October 18, the Supreme Court issued a stay of execution on Speaker Bagbin’s ruling.
Parliament was, in essence, instructed to recognise and allow the four MPs to fully represent their constituencies and carry out their official duties.
This directive will remain in effect, not for the 10 days initially requested by the applicants, but until the Supreme Court delivers its final ruling on the case.
The application to stay the Speaker’s decision was filed by NPP MPs who sought the Court’s intervention to halt the enforcement of the ruling that would have affected three of their colleagues and one from the NDC.
The application was filed ex parte, meaning that neither Speaker Bagbin nor Parliament was joined to the case.
This allowed the Court to consider the NPP MPs’ request without requiring the participation or response of the Speaker or other parliamentary authorities at this stage.
Supreme Court is not a supervisor of Parliament – Dafeamekpor
