'Parliament should be decisive on Adwoa Safo' -  Inusah Fuseini

A former Ranking Member on Parliament’s Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee, Inusah Fuseini, has called on Parliament to be decisive on Sarah Adwoa Safo. This comment comes after a report on the status of the Dome Kwabenya Member of Parliament, Sarah Adwoa Safo, was presented to the House. The Privileges Committee recommended that Sarah Adwoa Safo’s seat is declared vacant for failing to provide an explanation for her absence. Delivering the much-anticipated ruling, the Speaker noted that the report of the Committee must be placed before the whole House for a decision to be made. “It is for the House that will go through it because the mandate given to an MP, representation is so crucial that it cannot be left to the subjective view of any person or group of people but the whole house,” Speaker Bagbin said on the floor of Parliament on Wednesday. Speaking in an interview with host of Atinka FM’s AM Drive Kaakyire Ofori Ayim, Inusah Fuseini mentioned that the Committee had a duty to make a conclusive determination to the Speaker as to whether or not the MP would have to vacate her seat. He noted that Parliament’s Privileges Committee erred by not presenting a conclusive determination to the Speaker of Parliament. According to Inusah Fuseini, Sarah Adwoa Safo’s refusal to present herself before the Committee should not have prevented the Committee from making a determination on her case, as she was afforded the opportunity to do so and refused. “They have to make that determination of whether or not that explanation was reasonable. And if it’s proven to be reasonable, it is their determination, it’s a duty imposed on them by Article 97 1(c), it’s a duty. And if they make that determination, they then recommend to the Speaker to declare the seat vacant,” Inusah Fuseini said.

A former Ranking Member on Parliament’s Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee, Inusah Fuseini, has called on Parliament to be decisive on Sarah Adwoa Safo. This comment comes after a report on the status of the Dome Kwabenya Member of Parliament, Sarah Adwoa Safo, was presented to the House. The Privileges Committee recommended that Sarah Adwoa Safo’s seat is declared vacant for failing to provide an explanation for her absence. Delivering the much-anticipated ruling, the Speaker noted that the report of the Committee must be placed before the whole House for a decision to be made. “It is for the House that will go through it because the mandate given to an MP, representation is so crucial that it cannot be left to the subjective view of any person or group of people but the whole house,” Speaker Bagbin said on the floor of Parliament on Wednesday. Speaking in an interview with host of Atinka FM’s AM Drive Kaakyire Ofori Ayim, Inusah Fuseini mentioned that the Committee had a duty to make a conclusive determination to the Speaker as to whether or not the MP would have to vacate her seat. He noted that Parliament’s Privileges Committee erred by not presenting a conclusive determination to the Speaker of Parliament. According to Inusah Fuseini, Sarah Adwoa Safo’s refusal to present herself before the Committee should not have prevented the Committee from making a determination on her case, as she was afforded the opportunity to do so and refused. “They have to make that determination of whether or not that explanation was reasonable. And if it’s proven to be reasonable, it is their determination, it’s a duty imposed on them by Article 97 1(c), it’s a duty. And if they make that determination, they then recommend to the Speaker to declare the seat vacant,” Inusah Fuseini said.