‘Parliamentary Tsunami’ in Ghana

The decision by the former Minority Leader, Hon. Haruna Iddrisu of the NDC to invoke Article 97 1(g) & (h) in his statement regarding the embattled 4 MPs e.g. Hon. Peter Yaw Kwakye-Ackah, Hon. Andrews Asiamah Amoako, Hon. Kwadjo Asante and Hon. Cynthia Mamle Morrison in question on the floor of Parliament for the Rt. Hon. Speaker, Bagbin to give a reasoned ruling in the matter was decisively delivered. I will call this a ‘Parliamentary Tsunami’ in Ghana!

The question I want to ask now is ‘Na who caused the ‘Parliamentary Tsunami’ in Ghana on 17. October 2024?’ Is it the former Majority NPP Caucus, New majority NDC or the history-making Speaker Bagbin?

Before answering this question, I must applaud the Rt. Hon. Speaker for his firm and objective ruling in the matter. It is obvious that Speaker Bagbin has brought to bear his rich parliamentary and political experiences in his handling of the Parliamentary Tsunami proceedings on 17. October 2024.

Despite the Speaker Bagbin’s reasoned ruling having far-reaching implications constitutionally, it was crucial that the Speaker stayed on the side of sound judgement and spirit of patriotism.

As Speaker Bagbin clearly indicated in his erudite ruling, ‘certain modes of vacating a seat happen automatically or procedurally, either through the direct operation of law or institutional processes but do not require external determination of facts’.

Therefore, the decision of the Speaker to go ahead and deliver his reasoned ruling was appropriate and commendable in the 8th Parliament of Ghana.

The answer to the question of who caused the Parliamentary Tsunami is simple. It is the NPP Caucus that abused its decent Majority of 169 seats in the 7th Parliament under the first term of President Akufo-Addo.

The poorly executed plan to expel the Fomena MP, Hon. Andrews Asiamah Amoako in 2020 for going Independent due to unfair treatment from the NPP to him has come back to hurt them badly. Therefore, neither NDC caucus nor the experienced Speaker Bagbin is blamable.

As witnessed on the floor of Parliament, the Minority side of the NPP Caucus staged a walkout on Thursday due to the firm and bold reasoned ruling in the matter by the Speaker. The disrespectful attitude of the then Majority leader, Hon. Afenyo Markin was a show of disappointment and spoilt the evening meal for the NPP. This is because the plan of the NPP caucus to buy time to keep their 3 embattled MPs in Parliament until January 6, 2025, has failed woefully by the delivery of Speaker Bagbin’s reasoned ruling on the day.

Consequentially, the NDC now has 136 seats while the NPP has 135 seats, making the NPP the Minority in Parliament.

The Parliament of Ghana is indeed in unchartered waters now, leading to a shift in Parliamentary Committee compositions, impact on government business and decisions on bills that were already passed into law e.g. the e-levy, etc.

This historic parliamentary event that led to the declaration of the 4 seats vacant on 17. October 2024 is causing the NPP to shiver and can be collapsed into a pile of rubble due to the Parliamentary Tsunami that has taken place.

This is a sign of defeat for the ruling NPP in the upcoming general elections.

That said, we should look at the bigger picture of making Ghana’s over 30-year democracy in the 4th Republic and make it more enduring. Is Ghana ready for this ongoing Parliamentary Tsunami? We have interesting days ahead in the dying moments of this hung 8th Parliament.