‘What the Speaker has done is in the right direction’ – Martin Kpebu reacts to adjournment of Parliament

Private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu has criticised the Supreme Court’s handling of the parliamentary dispute between the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) over which side of the House is now the Majority.

Reacting to the indefinite suspension of Parliament by the Speaker on Thursday, November 7, 2024, on TV3, he stressed the need for further consultations between the two sides of the House to resolve the matter.

“The Ghanaian is docile, doesn’t like questioning authority, doesn’t like questioning judges, doesn’t like questioning the Supreme Court. What the Speaker has done is in the right direction. Once he says they don’t have a quorum, that will be the situation,” he said.

“We need more consultations behind the scenes. It is a democracy, Ghana is bigger than all the parties. The Supreme Court did not handle the matter well. It is negotiations; they should do something behind the scenes, they should talk behind the scenes. They should do some negotiations, the consultations have not been concluded. If there were more consultations, this situation would not be there. Let them do further consultations, let them work behind the scenes,” he noted.

The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has once again suspended the sitting of the House sine die (indefinitely).

The suspension was due to the NPP MPs boycotting the House’s sitting on Thursday, November 7, 2024.

Background

Controversy arose after the Supreme Court stayed the Speaker’s decision to declare four seats vacant, following the affected MPs’ decision to “cross the carpet” by filing to contest the December 7, 2024, parliamentary elections in different capacities—either as independents or on the tickets of other political parties. This action diverges from the basis on which these MPs were originally elected to the House.

The affected seats include those held by Cynthia Morrison (Agona West), Kwadjo Asante (Suhum), Andrew Amoako Asiamah (Fomena), and Peter Kwakye Ackah (Amenfi Central).

Both sides of the House are now locked in a battle over which party holds the Majority, as the Supreme Court ruling positions the NDC in the Minority while the Speaker’s ruling places the NPP in the Minority.

The core contention centres on whether the Supreme Court has the authority to restrict parliamentary decisions.