Decisions to declare parliamentary seats vacant must be overturned — Richard Dela Sky

Ghanaian media and legal practitioner, Richard Dela Sky, has raised strong objections to recent decisions by parliamentary Speakers to declare seats vacant, describing the rulings as unconstitutional and a violation of MPs’ rights to due process.

In a social media post on Thursday, October 17, Dela Sky called for an authoritative intervention from the judiciary to correct what he termed as an “overreach” by Speakers Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye and Alban Bagbin.

Dela Sky’s comments come in the wake of Speaker Bagbin’s decision to declare four parliamentary seats vacant after their holders filed to contest the 2024 elections as independent candidates or under different political parties.

The ruling has led to a significant shift in Parliament’s balance of power, with the National Democratic Congress (NDC) poised to assume the majority over the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

However, according to Richard Dela Sky, the manner in which the seats were declared vacant undermines the fundamental rights of the affected MPs.

In his post, Dela Sky argued that the actions of both Speakers Oquaye and Bagbin violated the constitutional rights of MPs to be heard in their defense before their seats were declared vacant.

He emphasized that this failure to observe due process flies in the face of natural justice, a principle the Constitution seeks to uphold.

“What happened in the cases of both Oquaye and Bagbin undermined the rights of the affected MPs to be heard in their own defense,” Dela Sky wrote. “This is a fundamental principle of natural justice that the Constitution seeks to protect.”

He called on the judiciary to step in and correct the overreach by affirming the proper procedure for determining seat vacancies.

“It is time for the judiciary to step in and correct this overreach, ensuring that the constitutional process for determining seat vacancies is strictly adhered to in the future,” Dela Sky said. “The decisions made by the Speakers to declare seats vacant must not stand. They are not only unconstitutional but also a threat to the rights of elected representatives and, by extension, the will of the electorate.”

Background: Speaker Bagbin’s Ruling and Political Fallout

On Thursday, Speaker Alban Bagbin ruled that four parliamentary seats—Fomena, Suhum, Amenfi Central, and Agona West—had been vacated after their respective MPs filed to contest the 2024 elections as independent candidates or under different political parties.

The ruling followed a petition submitted by Tamale South MP Haruna Iddrisu, the former Minority Leader, invoking Article 97 of the 1992 Constitution.

Article 97 states that an MP who switches party allegiance or decides to run as an independent candidate automatically vacates their seat.

The petition argued that these MPs had forfeited their parliamentary positions, thus triggering the vacancy declarations.

However, Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye, former Speaker of Parliament, sharply criticized the the petition.

He contended that the removal of MPs must be initiated by their political parties, not by another MP. Oquaye referenced his handling of a similar case involving Fomena MP Andrew Amoako Asiamah, in which the NPP initiated the removal process after Asiamah contested the 2020 elections as an independent candidate.

According to Oquaye, the current Speaker should have followed this precedent.