The Dome-Kwabenya parliamentary seat has been declared vacant, Chairman of Parliament’s Privileges Committee, Joseph Osei-Owusu, has disclosed.
This comes after the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency, Sarah Adwoa Safo failed to honor an invitation extended to her to appear before the Privileges Committee of Parliament.
Adwoa Safo had been invited with two other MPs, the Assin Central MP, Kennedy Agyapong, and Ayawaso Central MP, Henry Quartey, for absenting themselves from Parliament for more than 15 consecutive sittings without any permission from the Speaker.
The two MPs, Kennedy Agyapong and Ayawaso Central MP, Henry Quartey, appeared before the Privileges Committee but Ms. Adwoa Safo failed to do so. The two MPs have since been pardoned.
The reason for Adwoa Safo’s failure to appear before the Committee is not yet known, but the MP had earlier indicated in a Joy News interview that she had not received official communication from Parliament to appear before the Privileges Committee.
Joseph Osei-Owusu’s disclosure
Speaking on the development on Thursday, July 14, 2022, Chairman of the Privileges Committee, Joseph Osei-Owusu said “a vacancy has occurred”.
He said, as such, the Electoral Commission must be informed by the Clerk of Parliament that Adwoa Safo’s seat has become vacant.
“By the law, it is for the Clerk to inform the Electoral Commission that a vacancy has occurred, that is what the constitution says, that is what our report reflects,” the Committee Chairman said.
He explained that the Privileges Committee offered the opportunity to the Dome-Kwabenya lawmaker to appear before them to justify her absence but refusing to accept the opportunity means her seat is automatically vacant.
Adwoa Safo’s whereabouts
Currently, Hon. Sarah Adwoa Safo who doubles as the Minister of Gender, Children, and Social Protection, is in the United States.
On why she had left her parliamentary and ministerial duties and cooled off in a foreign land, she told Joy News in an interview that her son was unwell and until his condition becomes stable, she could not hear back from her own family.
