I absented myself from Parliament due to ill-health – Kennedy Agyapong

The Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong has justified reasons behind his absenteeism in Parliament.

According to him, his absence from parliament was inadvertent, due to ill health.

He made this revelation when he appeared before the Privileges Committee of Parliament on Wednesday, June 15.

Mr Kennedy Agyapong is said to have absented himself for more than the stipulated fifteen sitting days during the First Meeting of the Second Session of the Eighth Parliament.

Per Article 97(1)(c) of the 1992 Constitution, a Member of Parliament shall vacate his seat “if he is absent, without the permission in writing of the Speaker, and he is unable to offer a reasonable explanation to the Parliamentary Committee on Privileges from fifteen sittings of a meeting of Parliament during any period that Parliament has been summoned to meet and continues to meet.”

Referral to Privileges Committee

Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, referred three members of the House to the Privileges Committee for their continuous absence in Parliament.

The three are; the Dome-Kwabenya MP, Sarah Adwoa Safo, Ayawaso Central MP, Henry Quartey and Assin Central MP, Kennedy Agyapong.

Delivering his ruling on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday, April 5, Mr Bagbin explained that based on the relevant provisions of the 1992 Constitution and the Standing Orders of Parliament, the named NPP lawmakers are guilty of the absenteeism threshold for Members of Parliament.

“I have accordingly come to the irresistible conclusion that a Member who absents himself or herself from 16 sitting days of Parliament in a particular meeting, without the permission in writing of the Speaker, falls squarely within the ambit of Article 97, clause 1(c) of the 1992 Constitution and Order 16(1) of the Standing Orders of Parliament,” he stated.

The two other MPs are yet to appear before the committee.