There has been a significant shift of power in Parliament as the National Democratic Congress (NDC), formerly the minority caucus, now becomes the majority caucus in the House.
This shift follows the declaration of four parliamentary seats vacant by the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, on the floor of the House on Thursday, October 17.
The declaration came after a heated debate in Parliament, sparked by a petition filed by former NDC Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu.
As a result, the Speaker ruled that three seats held by New Patriotic Party (NPP) members and one seat held by an NDC member were vacant.
The legislators affected by the ruling are the NDC’s Peter Yaw Kwakye Ackah of Amenfi Central constituency, Andrew Amoakoh Asiamah of Fomena, Kojo Asante, NPP MP for Suhum in the Eastern Region, and NPP’s Cynthia Morrison of Agona West constituency.
The Speaker also noted that once the notice of polls had duly confirmed that the four MPs were going independent, they had no business to remain as MPs in the current parliament.
This ruling means that Ghana’s hung parliament, which had previously given the governing NPP a slight advantage as the Majority side of the House with the support of Andrew Amoako Asiamah, an Independent Member of Parliament, will now tilt toward the opposition NDC.
As it stands, the NDC holds 136 parliamentary seats, making them the majority of the House while the NPP controls 135 seats.
Source: Prince Adu-Owusu
