Don’t single out Adwoa Safo, most NPP MPs are guilty of absenteeism – Agbodza

The Member of Parliament for Adaklu in the Volta Region, Governs Kwame Agbodza has questioned why the leadership of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is singling out Dome-Kwabenya MP, Sarah Adwoa Safo even though most of their MPs are always absent from the Chamber.

This follows ongoing moves by the NPP and the Majority in parliament to trigger processes for the embattled MP to be stripped of her seat after revelations that she has contravened the standing orders of the House which stipulates that an MP shall not absent him/herself from parliamentary sittings for fifteen (15) consecutive days without recourse to the Speaker.

Article 97 (1) (c) of the 1992 Constitution and Order 17 of the Standing Orders of Parliament state emphatically: “A Member shall not absent himself during a meeting for more than fifteen sittings without the permission in writing of the Speaker. Any member infringing this Order shall have his conduct referred to the Privileges Committee.”

Checks by your authoritative The Newsroom portal reveals that records in the House have marked the MP as absent for more than the stipulated time.

Indeed her last appearance in the Chamber was in December during the vote by Majority MPs to overturn the earlier rejection of the 2022 budget by NDC MPs.

Efforts to get her to return to the House for another crucial vote to approve the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy) Bill appears to have proved futile.

Commenting on this, Mr Agbodza questioned why the interest in Adwoa Safo’s absenteeism when several NPP MPs only come to the chamber just to break the 15-day rule after they have been away for a while.

“There are a number of Members of Parliament who always come here to break the 15-day rule. They come when the 15 days is about to elapse then they come and do one day or even half-day and then leave, so why is Adwoa Safo of so much interest currently. Look into the chamber for some people you even hardly know if they are still Members of Parliament. So I don’t even see the fixation on Adwoa Safo.”

“Don’t they know where she, don’t they know what’s wrong with her? Are they trying to say she’s lying I don’t think it’s fair. The NPP is being so callous, unfair to Adwoa Safo. She has done everything for the party and even won the seat for the party, today you are telling her, she and her father are nobody and the party doesn’t belong to her, but she has never claimed the party belongs to her,” he told ghanaweb.

Source: Thenewsroomonline