The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has received a petition from Haruna Iddrisu, the Member of Parliament for Tamale South, requesting the declaration of four parliamentary seats as vacant.
The constituencies in question are Agona West, Suhum, Amenfi Central, and Fomena.
This information was revealed by Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin, the Majority Leader and MP for Effutu, during a session in Parliament on Tuesday, October 15, 2024.
He noted that he became aware of the petition after receiving a copy of the memo sent to the Speaker by the Tamale South MP.
“This morning, I got a memo which is addressed to Mr Speaker by the respected Member for Tamale South (Haruna Iddrisu), I got a copy. He has sent a notice of petition to Mr Speaker to declare some seats vacant.
“He (Haruna Iddrisu) has listed Agona West, Suhum, Amenfi Central, and Fomena. He relies on Order 99 and also anchors the specification of Order 18 and he intends to move the House to consider this matter,” he said.
The Majority Leader expressed his opposition to the former Minority Leader’s actions and has initiated legal proceedings against them.
This petition by Haruna Iddrisu follows the filing of nominations by the MPs for Agona West and Suhum, both members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), who are running as independent candidates in the upcoming 2024 parliamentary elections.
Additionally, the independent MP for Fomena has submitted his nomination to contest the elections under the NPP ticket, while the Amenfi Central MP, representing the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has also filed to run as an independent candidate.
Article 97 [1(g) & (h)] of the 1992 Constitution states that “a member of Parliament shall vacate his seat in Parliament if he leaves the party of which he was a member at the time of his election to Parliament to join another party or seeks to remain in Parliament as an independent member; or if he was elected a member of Parliament as an independent candidate and joins a political party.”