Bagbin adjourns sitting after low attendance by MPs

Parliament was forced to adjourn its sitting on Monday after only 24 Members of Parliament (MPs) were present in the House.

Earlier, the Minority had signaled their intention to disrupt the business of the House if the Majority caucus failed to ensure adequate attendance. The Minority’s concerns were centered on the consistent reliance on their numbers by the Majority to conduct government business.

During the session, Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed, the MP for Tamale Central, highlighted the quorum issue. His comments came as the Majority Chief Whip, Frank Annoh Dompreh, was set to present the Ewoyaa Lithium and Bauxite agreement to the House.

Murtala argued, “Mr Speaker, I’m standing on order 64 to raise a quorum for transactions for business this morning. They bring business to this house, and they can’t consistently rely on our numbers to have government business executed.

“It demonstrates a lack of seriousness, I don’t think we need to give them this opportunity. They are in our constituencies campaigning, yet they expect us to execute their business for them. It’s completely unacceptable, we could have also done that, we could have left this house, but we have decided to act responsibly.”

The Speaker, Alban Bagbin was compelled to adjourn sittings after a headcount revealed that only 24 Members of Parliament were available for proceedings.

“Honourable members, head count 24, the house is adjourned.”