Sarah Adwoa Safo, MP for Dome Kwabenya constituency
Adwoa Safo referred to Privileges Committee by Speaker
I have not been served, Adwoa Safo
I’ve been a deputy leader of Ghana’s parliament and I know the rules, Adwoa Safo
The Ranking Member on Parliament’s privileges committee, Kweku George Ricketts-Hagan, has said he is surprised Adwoa Safo says she has not been served notice to appear before the Privileges Committee.
According to him, the committee was informed she would be appearing before members on Friday, May 27.
He explained that they however planned to adjourn the date due to the absence of some Members of Parliament on the Committee ahead of the NPP regional executive elections.
“ I’m actually surprised. I heard it last after she granted an interview. Members of the Privileges Committee are not actually involved in the invitation processes in terms of the MPs, it’s an administrative work done by the clerk of parliament. So, they communicate with the people the speaker has referred. The time table was put to use and the timetable showed we were meeting Henry Quartey was on Thursday May 26 and Adwoa Safo will be on Friday, May 27. It was only Kennedy Agyapong who replied to say he won’t be available due to medical check, so we changed his date for May 31. There was no other communication from the clerk of parliament with regards to Adwoa Safo,” he told GhanaWeb.
Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, directed that Adwoa Safo, along with two other MPs, appear before the Privileges Committee after she breached the 15-day rule per Article 97 (1)(c) that says an MP cannot be absent in parliament for the said period without permission.
She was expected to appear before the committee on Friday, May 27, 2022, however, the committee adjourned the meeting due to the NPP Regional Executive elections which have been scheduled for May 27 and 28.
Adwoa Safo said she was unaware she was summoned by Privileges Committee while speaking in an interview on Joynews.
“I’ve been a deputy leader of Ghana’s parliament and I know the rules, and I know that the privileges committee wants me to be in parliament but as we speak, I don’t know that I’ve been invited to be served and I’m not aware that any such thing has been given to me.
“As you can see, I’m here in the United States and I didn’t know that I was supposed to. If the Speaker says that you have been referred, the Committee has to sit and have its own modalities of how we are going to appear, when and how date, when and information they are requiring and I don’t think I have all of that now”.
“If I’m served and I look at the circumstances and I can, why not, but I’ve not been served. I know the rules and I’ve been a practicing lawyer. I don’t have to be served through Joynews nor a third party,” she added.
