Breach of Article 97: I want to take my time to give a reasoned ruling – Speaker

• Posted on October 16, 2024October 16, 2024
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has requested two days to decide on the motion filed by Member of Parliament for Tamale South, Haruna Iddrisu, for the declaration of the seats of four Members of Parliament vacant.

He said, this would allow him to “make a reasoned ruling.”

“Do onto others, what you want done to you. If you sow evil, you reap evil” he added.

Haruna Iddrisu on October 12 announced his intention to invoke Article 97 of the 1992 Constitution when Parliament reconvenes, to challenge the status of four members of the House.

According to this article, “A member of Parliament shall vacate his seat in Parliament— …(g) if he leaves the party of which he was a member at the time of his election to Parliament to join another party or seeks to remain in Parliament as an independent member; or (h) if he was elected a member of Parliament as an independent candidate and joins a political party.

These MPs include the Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Andrew Asiamah Amoako, the MP for Fomena, who, according to Iddrisu, has now filed to contest the 2024 election on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), having previously served as an independent MP.

The other MPs facing challenges are Cynthia Mamle Morrison of Agona East and Kwadwo Asante of Suhum, both currently in Parliament under the NPP but now running as independents in the 2024 elections.