NPP Communication Team Member for Greater Accra, Sammy Darkwa, has called for strict enforcement of sanctions against Members of Parliament who consistently absent themselves from parliamentary sittings, insisting that the newly introduced biometric attendance system must go beyond simply recording their presence.
Speaking on Plan B 104.5 FM’s Nkosuosɛm, hosted by Obidehyie Kofi Sekyi, Mr Darkwa said the system would only achieve its intended purpose if parliamentary authorities backed it with firm disciplinary measures against defaulting lawmakers.
He argued that MPs had a constitutional and moral responsibility to represent their constituents, participate in parliamentary debates, scrutinise government expenditure and hold the Executive accountable.
According to him, some lawmakers spend years in Parliament without making meaningful contributions to debates or actively participating in committee activities, raising questions about their commitment to the mandate entrusted to them by voters.
Mr Darkwa maintained that occupying a parliamentary seat should not merely be about enjoying the privileges, salaries and benefits associated with the office, but demonstrating commitment to national development and constituency representation.
He proposed that salary deductions, where legally permissible, should be considered for MPs who repeatedly miss parliamentary sittings without reasonable justification.
Citing Article 97(1)(c) of the 1992 Constitution, he noted that an MP could lose their seat for absenting themselves from fifteen sittings of a parliamentary meeting without the Speaker’s written permission and without a reasonable explanation to the Committee on Privileges.
He said the challenge was not necessarily the absence of legal provisions but the failure to consistently enforce existing constitutional requirements.
Mr Darkwa also cautioned against the selective application of accountability measures, urging both the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) to ensure that the biometric system applied equally to all lawmakers.
He alleged that opposition MPs had faced politically motivated arrests and legal actions, while members of the governing party were not subjected to similar scrutiny.
“The law must apply to everyone equally,” he stressed, adding that accountability should not be used as a weapon against political opponents.
He concluded that the success of the biometric attendance system should ultimately be measured by its ability to improve parliamentary discipline, participation and accountability rather than merely producing attendance records.
By: RAPHAEL NARH GATOURHE
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