The Member of Parliament for Old Tafo, Vincent Ekow Assafuah, has strongly criticized the suspension of four Members of Parliament by Speaker Alban Bagbin, arguing that the move has no legal or constitutional basis.
The suspension, announced after chaotic scenes at a vetting session on January 30, 2025, has sparked controversy, with the Minority condemning it as an overreach of parliamentary authority and an attack on democracy.
The affected MPs include Majority Chief Whip Frank Annoh-Dompreh, Minority Chief Whip Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, Alhassan Sulemana Tampuli, and Jerry Ahmed Shaib.
The clashes erupted during a heated Appointments Committee sitting, leading to violent confrontations and a breakdown of decorum. In response, Speaker Bagbin justified the suspension as a disciplinary measure to uphold order in Parliament.
However, speaking on Channel One TV’s The Big Issue, Assafuah argued that the Speaker’s action lacks legal grounding and sets a dangerous precedent.
“In Order 130 of the Standing Orders of Parliament, at any point in time when you feel something has to be suspended, the first instance is four days, the next is eight days, and the last instance is 12 days. Nowhere in the standing orders will you find anything like two weeks. So, the Speaker has no basis or reason to even go on the tangent he went,” he explained.
He further maintained that the Speaker had overstepped his authority by acting as judge, complainant, and decision-maker in the matter.
“There is nowhere in our laws where you will find the Speaker of Parliament having the power to suspend people. In fact, in all the constitutional provisions I have read—Article 116, Article 43 of the 1992 Constitution, the Standing Orders of Parliament, and every other law I have read—the Speaker of Parliament does not have the power to make pronouncements unilaterally; being the judge, being the complainant, and at the same time hearing complaints and making a pronouncement on it to suspend people.
“This has never happened in our country. This is alien to our law, unacceptable, and it should not have happened,” he stated.
Assafuah clarified that his criticism does not excuse the MPs’ behavior during the vetting session but rather highlights the need for adherence to due process.
“I am not in any way approving what happened, but I am just saying that due process should have been followed. In the absence of due process, it makes nonsense of everything that you are doing,” he added.
