Former Member of Parliament for Ayensuano, Samuel Ayeh-Paye, has described the Speaker of Parliament’s decision to adjourn Parliament sine die on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, as unconstitutional.
The former lawmaker said the 1992 Constitution and Parliament’s Standing Orders do not give Speaker Alban Bagbin the powers to carry out the March 20 adjournment.
Speaking on The Big Issue on Citi FM/Citi TV, Mr. Ayeh-Paye narrated the procedures needed to adjourn Parliament sine die, which he said were disregarded by the Speaker in his ruling.
“Per the Constitution and our Standing Orders, the Speaker of Parliament has no power to adjourn Parliament sine die. The Standing Orders are clear on that. There must be a motion and a secondment of the motion, and a counter-motion if there is any rejection of the motion, and a vote would be cast on the motion. Members of Parliament vote to adjourn Parliament, and I am yet to see any lawyer or MP come out to shame me on this.”
He also accused the Speaker of attempting to assume powers that the Constitution had not given to him.
“No Speaker of Parliament can just wake up and adjourn or recall Parliament, and the Speaker follows the Business Committee’s report that lays out the operations of Parliament. It doesn’t work like the Speaker should just wake up and recall Parliament as and when he likes, and so the current Speaker is trying to award himself certain powers that he doesn’t have.”
The Majority Caucus on May 3 petitioned the Speaker for an urgent reconvening of the House to address key government business items, including the adoption of the Thirty-Fourth Report of the Appointments Committee and a motion on additional financing.
The Majority also wanted Parliament to be recalled to consider a motion for an “Additional Financing Agreement between GoG and the IDA for an amount of US$150 million to finance the ongoing Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development (GARID) Project” and also a “Request for Tax Exemption for selected beneficiaries under the 1D1F Programme.”
Speaker Bagbin granted the petition, and Parliament reconvened on Friday, May 17, 2024.
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