Joseph Osei-Owusu, the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, has said the recent happenings in Parliament is a display of the worst side of the House which is not supposed to be in public.
The Member of Parliament for Bekwai says the Legislature, with what is happening today, is drifting away from the values of the House.
The lawmaker, also known as ‘Joe Wise’, speaking on TV3’s Hot Issues Sunday, November 03, 2024, indicated that there have always been a disagreement between MPs in Parliament which have been resolved amicably.
He says cannot fathom why the situation has changed this time around, where the House has to resort to the courts to resolve matters which hitherto would have been dealt by leadership.
When asked if “what we see today a failure on leadership or of leadership?”, the First Deputy Speaker said “I do not intend to make any value judgement on leadership, but for me, we are moving away
“It is this time that we have almost, almost equal numbers, that the worst part of us is manifesting. But it may be also a reflection of the times. I regret to observe, and the Speaker has made that observation,” he stated.
Ghana’s Parliament is currently on an indefinite adjournment with the Speaker hinting of reconvening next week.
He adjourned the House indefinitely after failing to attain quorum in its last sitting due to a boycott by the Members from the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP).
The NPP members have said their position as Majority caucus of the House had been taken by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) who constitute the Minority.
Meanwhile, the NDC members say they are the Majority following an October 17, 2024 ruling by the Speaker of Parliament which reduced the membership of the NPP members to become the Minority, with the NDC assuming the Majority caucus.
Four Members of Parliament had switched their allegiance to either contesting as independent or joining a different political party in the December 2024 election, a situation Article 97 of the 1992 Constitution says renders one’s seat vacant the moment such a decision is taken.
However, the leader of the NPP caucus, Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, after the Speaker’s ruling went to the Supreme Court with an ex parte motion where the apex court stayed the ruling of the Speaker.
This was awaiting an original application which is seeking an interpretation of the Article 97. Meanwhile, the Speaker’s move to get the Supreme Court overturn its earlier verdict of staying his ruling was dismissed by the Supreme Court on Thursday, October 31, 2024.
‘I’m disappointed with what’s happening in Parliament – Joe Wise on vacant seats controversy
