Leader of the Majority in Parliament, Mahama Ayariga, says it is unlikely the House will declare Asante Akyem North lawmaker, Kwame Ohene Frimpong’s seat vacant, despite his long absence from parliamentary proceedings.
He explains that Parliament has always considered the circumstances leading to the absence of a member before invoking the constitutional provision.
Ohene Frimpong was arrested at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam on May 8, 2026, over allegations of money laundering and romance scam-related offences. His continued absence from Parliament has prompted debate over whether Article 97(1)(c) of the 1992 Constitution, which provides for the vacation of a parliamentary seat after 15 consecutive sittings without permission, should apply in his case.
According to Ayariga, where a Member of Parliament is unable to attend sittings as a result of circumstances beyond their control, particularly where they are under arrest or facing prosecution, Parliament has generally allowed the legal process to run its course before making any decision.
“The practice of the House has always been that if a person is absent due to circumstances beyond the control of that person, we wait. Such as, the person is arrested and incarcerated and being prosecuted,” he told Citi FM on Wednesday, July 15, 2026.
He averred that a detained Member of Parliament cannot be equated to another who has deliberately absented himself from parliamentary business.
“The person is absent because he has been apprehended elsewhere and is being detained against his will and even if he wanted to come to Parliament, he would not be able to come,” he added.
The Bawku Central legislator maintained that it would be a bad precedent to rely solely on the number of missed sittings to declare a seat vacant, warning that approach could be abused subsequently.
He argued that if a seat is vacated just because an MP is detained, political opponents could exploit this by bringing fake or baseless charges against lawmakers to get their seats declared vacant.
“If we allowed that precedent, what will happen is that an MP is arrested on the basis of trumped-up charges and then after 15 days, I will say his seat is vacant,” he stated.
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