Member of Parliament for Dome-Kwabenya, Sarah Adwoa Safo, says “it feels good to be back,” after her first appearance in Parliament following her long absence from the House.
In a short interaction with the media, the former Deputy Majority Leader said she hopes for better times ahead in the legislature.
“Today is the first day here and I’m hoping that the subsequent weeks are going to be good,” she said.
Prior to her first sitting after the long break, she had assured her constituents of her continuous service to them as their representative in Ghana’s legislature.
The assurance came few days after she returned from the United States, when tensions surrounding her political career seemed to have abated.
Sarah Adwoa Safo had been away since early months of 2021 on the back of an excuse to deal with some personal issues.
By October 6, 2021, the Director of Communications at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin, had indicated she had sought an indefinite extension of her leave which was supposed to have ended on August 31, 2021.
Her continuous absence from the country and consequently parliament over the period thus breached parliament’s 15-sitting-day threshold for absenteeism.
This led to the Speaker’s decision to refer her together with two other MPs to Parliament’s Privileges Committee to inquire into her absence and make recommendations to the House.
Although efforts to get the embattled MP to speak about her absence have proved futile, the House was scheduled to debate over her issue to determine whether her seat be declared vacant or not.
That notwithstanding, her actions over the period had also fomented discussions in the public space, creating divisions even among her own constituents and party members, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), some of whom believed she was determined to hold the party and government to ransom.
The MP who has been stripped of her responsibilities as Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, has indicated she will remain the lawmaker for the people of Dome-Kwabenya.
“First of all, I want to thank you all for your support. I know that whilst I was away, you watched back to ensure things run appropriately. Now I am here and I know majority of the work is ahead of us and I am going to commence on the go to ensure things work as expected,” she said after a church service Sunday.
She continued thanking the whole constituency, especially Taifa, for all their prayers and all the support. I know I will be back and I will continue to be your Member of Parliament, said the former Minister during her thanksgiving at some churches in her constituency Sunday, November 6 2022.
By Felix Anim-Appau|Onuaonline.com
