Learn to be principled – Della Sowah tells NPP

Member of Parliament(MP) for Kpando Constituency, Della Sowah has advised the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to learn to be principled in their dealings with Ghanaians.

According to Della Sowah, she was surprised by the stands and commentary by the NPP regarding the ruling of the Speaker of Parliament yesterday.

The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin yesterday declared four seats in parliament as vacant.

This followed a motion filed by former Minority Leader and Member of Parliament for Tamale South, Haruna Iddrisu.

He argued that the MPs who are seeking to contest the upcoming December elections as independent candidates must renounce their parliamentary positions as outlined in the constitutional provisions governing parliamentary membership.

The affected MPs are Cynthia Morrison (Agona West), Kojo Asante (Suhum), Andrew Asiamah (Fomena), and Peter Kwakye Ackah (Amenfi Central).

However, the NPP MPs, including their Leader Afenyo Markin, believe the Speaker was wrong in his ruling because he did not have that power to make such a determination.

They also say that the precedence set by Professor Mike Oquaye was in error.

This notwithstanding, Della Sowah is of the view that such a sudden switch is just a display of hypocrisy at the highest level.

Della Sowah added that Article 97(1)(g) of the 1992 Constitution provides “a member of Parliament shall vacate his seat in Parliament if he leaves the party of which he was a member at the time of his election to Parliament to join another party or seeks to remain in Parliament as an independent member.”

The Kpando MP said Article 97(1)(g) of the 1992 Constitution is
clear and does not need any special interpretation for one to understand.

She concluded by saying that Ghanaians are tired of politics of convenience.

By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme