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The Deputy General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Obiri Boahen, has called on party faithful and stakeholders to exercise caution, in dealing with the Member of Parliament for the Dome Kwabenya Constituency, Sarah Adwoa Safo.
The Dome Kwabenya MP has become the subject of discussion, following allegations by some colleague MPs that she is blackmailing the party and using her influence as a bargaining chip to secure some favours.
According to her accusers, she has deliberately been absenting herself from Parliament; thereby making it difficult for the NPP to gather the required numbers to facilitate the passage of the E-levy Bill.
This has subsequently triggered calls for her dismissal and replacement as a legislator.
But reacting to these accusations on Top Story on Friday, Mr. Boahen said, the provisions of the 1992 Constitution and the dictates of Parliament must be carefully followed in handling the issue.
According to him, even though MPs like Kennedy Agyapong and Michael Okyere Baafi have publicly expressed their reservations on the matter, the party must tread with caution.
“You have the Majority Leader, you have the Deputy Speaker, the Chief Whip, they’re all available. So we need to tread cautiously. More so, when you’re reliably informed that she wrote to the Speaker and the Speaker requested that she should furnish him with medical reports; and better particulars of her illness. So we need to be careful.
If our friends, some of our friends, Baafi and Kennedy Agyapong, have voiced out their sentiments, perfect. But we are guided by rules and regulations. The Constitution of Ghana stipulates the time frame within which if a Member of Parliament is not available or present, then they can call for a by-election. And it happened during the Nana Amoateng case in 2006. So we need to tread cautiously.
She’s a human being. She complains that she’s not well. She has sent a letter to the Speaker. The Speaker has requested for further and better particulars. Let us tread cautiously and wait for the next couple of days, and then we can give informed views and opinions, per the constitutional requirements”, he explained.
Meanwhile, Managing News Editor of the Daily Dispatch Newspaper, Ben Ephson has called on the leadership of the ruling New Patriotic Party to take a conclusive decision on the Member of Parliament for the Dome-Kwabenya Constituency, Sarah Adwoa Safo.
Speaking in an interview with Evans Mensah on Top Story on Thursday, the pollster indicated that, the continuous absence of Adwoa Safo in Parliament, poses a huge threat to the fortunes of the party.
Mr. Ephson said the legislator’s posture should not be condoned, and therefore called for her replacement if her conduct persists.
“Clearly if the records there at Parliament show that she has absented herself without permission or health reasons, I think somebody should trigger that and the party should sack her for a by-election to be held. It’s going to be very difficult for her to win as an independent candidate, unlike the situation in the Ashanti region. She won the NPP primaries by eight; single eight votes. Not eighty, eight votes.
That is a relatively safe seat for the NPP. So she can decide that she dares the party. If there’s proof of days without excuse of health reasons, they should ask her. And she can decide to go independent and be a second independent candidate.
There’s no way she’s going to win that seat as an independent candidate. That’s a relatively safe NPP seat, and she won the party’s primaries by eight votes, against Mike Oquaye Jnr”, Ben Ephson stated.
He also added that, “Well, I think I’m sure she brought proof of some medical condition. But I think that she crossed the line of political decency and comradeship.
I think the President should sack her and if she has not fulfilled the rules for being absent for these number of days, they should sack her; have a by-election and she can contest as independent and she comes to Parliament and perhaps vote for NDC. So they should call her bluff and sack her from Parliament. She’s shown disrespect to the party that brought her to power”, he stated.
Source: myJoy
