Speaker of Parliament, Edward Doe Adjaho has told Members of Parliament (MP) that the Talensi MP who was elevated to the position of the Paramount Chief for the Tongo Traditional Area has officially resigned.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) MPs in Parliament mounted pressure on the Speaker, Edward Doe Adjaho to declare the seat vacant because Robert Nachinab Mosore Doameng had been absent in Parliament for a while.
Talensi MPs salary frozen
[contextly_sidebar id=”RU5WonrKLNJnlJTSWrUEMIaaILqocddw”]The Speaker had earlier ordered that the salary of the Talensi MP be frozen.
The order implied that if the MP was still absent, he wouldn’t have received his salary for the month of June.
Article 112 (5) of the Constitution as amended says “Whenever a vacancy occurs in Parliament, the Clerk of Parliament shall notify the Electoral Commission in writing within seven days after becoming aware that the vacancy has occurred; and a by-election shall be held within thirty days after the vacancy occurred except that where the vacancy occurred through the death of a member, the by-election shall be held within sixty days after the Occurrence of the vacancy.”
Equally, Article 276 (1) of the constitution bars chiefs from taking part in active partisan politics.
Article 94 (3) (c) forbids chiefs from serving in Parliament
The Speaker, Edward Doe Adjaho on Tuesday had a crunch meeting with the leadership of the House over the fate of the MP.
The consultative meeting delayed the commencement of proceedings in the House.
Citi News Parliamentary correspondent Richard Dela Sky reported that “the Speaker informed the House that he had received notification from the MP in question that he was no longer interested in serving the people of Talensi as Member of Parliament and that he has effectively resigned his office as the MP for the Talensi Constituency.”
By-election looms
“That communication was appropriately announced to MPs in Parliament effectively declaring the said set vacant,” Richard Sky reported.
He added that the Speaker further directed the Clerk of the House to write to the Electoral Commission to notify them of the vacant seat “for that reason a by-election must be held to elect an appropriate successor to Robert Nachinab Doameng who has been elevated to the status of the paramount chief for the people of Tongo.”
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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana