The Speaker of Parliament, Edward Doe Adjaho, has urged non-returning members of Parliament to begin packing in earnest as new members prepare to take over.
Speaker Adjaho said this will ensure a seamless transition of power to incoming legislators.
To serve as an example to the House, the Speaker indicated that he had already finished packing and was awaiting the expiration of his tenure on the midnight of January 6, 2017.
Speaker Adjaho said, “I urge all of you non-returning members to leave this parliamentary premises with enthusiasm and hope and demonstrate same by packing out and vacating your respective offices by the 6th of January 2017.”
“To serve as an example, I have myself, as the Speaker, already packed and I’m only awaiting the conclusion of final proceeding so as to vacate the Speaker’s office to enable the incoming Speaker assume his role seamlessly,” he said to the light laughter of parliamentarians in the House.
The general elections on December 7 saw the National Democratic Congress suffer a net loss of 52 MPs from the last session while the New Patriotic Party have seen a net gain of 46 MPs.
There are 125 new MPs with Ashanti Region recording the highest number of new legislators (25).
Greater Accra (18), Central Region (16) and Northern Region also recorded high numbers of new aspirants winning their seats.
133 MPs, however, managed to avoid any upsets and successfully retained their seats, including 26 in the Ashanti Region, 20 in the Eastern Region and 18 in the Brong Ahafo Region.
–
By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana