NPP to Move Motion for Recall of Parliament Following Speaker’s Adjournment

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Parliamentary Caucus will on Wednesday, October 23, trigger a motion to recall Parliament. 

Mr Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin, the NPP Caucus Leader, who made the disclosure in an interview on an Accra-based FM radio station said there was no controversy that should trigger adjournment of the House sine die by Speaker Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, which occurred on Tuesday, October 22.

“So, we are going to recall Parliament and then we’ll see what he will do, whether he will respect it to recall Parliament or not.

“We’ll leave it to him. But there is no such controversy that should trigger adjournments sine die,” Mr Afenyo-Markin said.

“You (Speaker Bagbin) have made your ruling. A court has questioned your authority and ordered you to do ABCD.

“All you need to do as a democratic is to obey the authority of the court, in full, don’t just acknowledge it and find another way to say, people have been consulting you and you think there should be some discussions, so you are adjourning sine die. As if you are the house, you are not Parliament. With the greatest respect and in all modesty, Mr Speaker is not Parliament.”

Mr Afenyo-Markin alleged that Speaker Bagbin was aiding the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Parliamentary Caucus not to allow Parliament to operate to enable government to undertake major government business before the nation got into the elections; saying, “That’s their game plan. We knew about this.

“The Moderates among them kept telling us and it’s exactly what they’ve done. It started before the opening of Parliament.”

Mr Afenyo-Markin said during the recall, the NPP Caucus had signals that the NDC Caucus was not ready to do any government business; adding that, “and that’s exactly what they’re doing.

“They (NDC Caucus) don’t want Parliament to function. You know what? God willing tomorrow, the majority caucus will trigger a recall of Parliament,” he said.

“We will not allow Mr Speaker to ambush us and all these things that Mr Speaker is doing, he as the elder statesman that we know him to be, he should know that he’s hurting democracy,” Mr Afenyo-Markin said.

“We know him to be an NDC member but to deliberately act in such a manner, thinking that you give political advantage to your party so that government business will stop and frustrate the economy, leaves so much to be desired. But it’s okay, we will use the law to get what we want.”