
Ken Agyapong Attributes Absenteeism From Parliament To Ill-Health
Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, the Member of Parliament for Assin Central, went before the Privileges Committee for concerns about absenteeism in the House.
He appeared in front of the House today, Wednesday, June 15, to address questions about why he was absent from the House for longer than the required 15 sitting days during the first meeting of the Eighth Parliament’s second session.
This comes after the Rt. Hon. Speaker, Alban Bagbin, issued a directive under Article 97 (1c) of the 1992 Constitution to look into the reasons underlying the absence of three Members of Parliament.
The MP told the Committee that his absence was unintentional owing to illness.
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has entrusted the Privileges Committee with engaging Adwoa Safo, Kennedy Agyapong, and Henry Quartey over charges of persistent absenteeism leveled against them.
The three are asked to provide valid reasons for their absences, failing which they will be removed from the House of Commons.
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.”