Understanding the marriage between the Minority and Hon. Adwoa Sarfo

Politics is full of strategies meant to outwit opponents and what is playing out currently between the Minority Group of this 8th Parliament and Hon. Adwoa Sarfo is one such strategy worth analysing to appreciate the rationale behind it.

In most cases and of course, for both parties in matters of this nature, adopt strategies which seek to advance their party interest over and above the national interest which rather ought to take precedence over every interest if we were to be nationalistic and place Ghana at the centre of our actions.

The point is, there are many negative work ethics which contribute to the Ghana's development problems in the shape of laziness, pilfering, lack of punctuality among others of which absenteeism is an important part so any position taken to tacitly or explicitly support a habitual absentee must be problematic, for want of a better word.

Hon. Adwoa Sarfo has been absent from Parliament for close to a year and has denied Dome Kwabenya Constituency the much needed representation in the period of her absence which has got many well meaning Ghanaains interested in the ongoing proceedings to deal with the issue which her tiktok and social media theatrics so far portray her as willfully absenting herself intentionally.

In the closing remarks of the last sitting which ushered the legislative body into recess on Thursday, July 28, 2022, the Minority Leader Hon.Haruna Idrisu admits what the Hon. MP is doing is bad but they are only disagreeing procedurally.

Hon. Mahama Ayariga also argued copiously based on the Standing Orders of Parliament to make a case for why the Minority will not support any decision to declare Dome Kwabenya seat vacant on the basis of the principle of natural justice in which fair trial is the cardinal principle guiding such decisions.

"Essentially, natural justice requires that a person receives a fair and unbiased hearing before a decision is made that will negatively affect them. The three main requirements of natural justice that must be met in every case are: adequate notice, fair hearing and no bias. Sometimes, all three of these concepts are

grouped together as “the right to a fair hearing.”

1. "The notice requirement means that the people affected by the decision must be told about the important issues and be given enough information to be able to participate meaningfully in the decision-making process".

2. "The fair hearing requirement means that the people affected are given a reasonable

opportunity to present their point of view and to respond to facts presented by others, and that

the decision-maker will genuinely consider what each person has told them when making the decision".

3. "The no bias requirement means that the person making the decision must act impartially when considering the matter, and must not have any relationships with anyone that could lead someone to reasonably doubt their impartiality" according to OMBUDSMAN FOR BANKING SERVICES AND INVESTMENT(OBSI)

From the reference above, the question the Minority ought to answer is whether the first component of fair trial had been met and the answer definitely is in the affirmative. The Hon. MP was given ample notice to appear before the Privileges Committee of Parliament which notice was so popularly advertised in the media which she arrogantly failed to take the opportunity to explain herself to the August House and Ghanaians in general.

Failure to appear before the Privileges Committee meant that the second and third legs of fair trial, thus fair hearing and no bias, could not be activated for no one's fault but hers so for the Minority to latched on the principles of natural justice as the basis for opposing the motion to declare her seat vacant does not add up, again for want of a better word.

The Minority, it could be argued, are either the beneficiaries of Hon.Adwoa Sarfo's continues absence as it has hugely served to reduce the Majority's number by an important one member especially in the face of the novel hung parliament and also the fact that the demographics of the Dome Kwabenya Constituency could still produce an NPP MP should a bye election be held despite the poor show of this NPP administration.

The Minority per their stance are also giving an inkling that they are heavily indebted to Hon. Adwoa Sarfo for a reason only they know, especially when the MP from the Majority's side who defected during the election of the Speaker is still unknown.

Whatever the case may be, Ghanaians have widely opened their eyes watching the unfolding events in the legislative chamber.

For a time is coming soon, this two party system will diminish.