Ghana Parliament To Reconvene On November 7 At Conference Centre Amid Ongoing Controversy

• The Speaker of Parliament has summoned legislators to reconvene on Thursday, November 7, 2024
• The session of Parliament will take place at the Grand Arena of the Accra International Conference Centre
• Bagbin had adjourned parliamentary proceedings indefinitely on October 22 after Majority MPs boycotted parliament

The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has summoned legislators to reconvene on Thursday, November 7, 2024, at 10:00 AM.

The session will take place at the Grand Arena of the Accra International Conference Centre, where lawmakers will return to critical discussions that have been stalled for several weeks.

Parliament announced the decision to reconvene in a statement.

This follows the impasse triggered by a ruling from the Speaker regarding vacant seats in Parliament.

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Bagbin had declared the seats for Fomena, Amenfi Central, Suhum, and Agona West vacant, but the Majority Leader challenged this in court, and the Supreme Court halted the process.

Most recently, the Supreme Court dismissed an application by the Speaker of Parliament to overturn the Court’s ruling suspending his declaration of four parliamentary seats as vacant.

The Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, had filed for a stay of execution to defend his side's majority status, which the speaker’s declaration had threatened by removing three of his MPs contesting the election on different tickets in 2024.

Bagbin had adjourned parliamentary proceedings indefinitely on October 22 after the Majority of MPs boycotted parliament.

He said the adjournment followed consultation with the house's leadership as per Parliament’s Standing Order 59.

Before adjourning the house, he noted that on Monday, October 22, 2024, he had received the Supreme Court’s stay of execution, which was issued against his vacation of four parliamentary seats.

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Kwaku Azar worried about speaker's declaration

YEN.com.gh reported that Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare said the declaration sets a dangerous precedent in Ghana’s parliament and could be used to stifle parliamentarians as they plan their political futures.

He argued that Alban Bagbin had misapplied the provision of Article 97(1)(g) of the 1992 constitution and misinterpreted what the law was intended to achieve, disagreeing with the Speaker's rationale about that decision.

Source: YEN.com.gh