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Tag: Sarah Adwoa Safo

  • Absenteeism in Parliament: Zoom link sent to Adwoa Safo Privileges Committee

    The Privileges Committee of Parliament has sent a Zoom link to the embattled MP for Dome-Kwabenya Constituency, Sarah Adwoa Safo, to question her over her absence from parliament for more than 15 days after several attempts to get her to return from the United States of America had proved futile.
    According to the Privileges Committee, this is in addition to the publication of the invitation for the embattled MP to appear before the Committee.

    Ranking Member of the Committee, George Kweku Ritchett- Hagan made this disclosure after the Committee’s sitting in Parliament on Wednesday, June 15, 2022.

    He explained that the link had been sent to the MP, who is also the Minister of Gender and Social Protection, but she has not responded to the link.

    He was hopeful that the MP would respond to the link to enable the Committee to question her on July 6, 2022.

    The Committee is probing the protracted absenteeism of Ms. Safo as well as two other MPs of the majority caucus, Mr. Kennedy Agyapong and Henry Quartey.

    In a recent interview, Adwoa Safo said she was not aware she had been invited or served a notice of appearance by parliament in connection with her previously scheduled appearance before the Privileges Committee on Friday, May 27 2022.
    “I am not aware such a thing has been given to me”, she told Accra-based Joy News on Thursday, adding: “I am just hearing it from you.”

    “As we speak, I don’t know that I have been invited,” she stressed.

    “I have to be served,” she added.

    The Minister of Gender, Child and Social Protection said she would only return home from the United States when her sick son was declared fit and healthy.

    Source: ghanaweb.com

  • Adwoa Safo is no longer our MP although we voted for her – Trader at Dome market 

    Dome Kwabenya MP, Sarah Adwoa Safo, has been relieved of her duties, and this is according to a trader at the Dome Market.

    Interacting with the Pulse in the local parlance, a female trader noted that although she remains their MP by law, they have denounced her as their representative.

    According to the unidentified trader, since her re-election, Adwoa Safo has failed to work for the people of Dome Kwabenya as mandated.

    “We those at the market have relieved her of her duties. When we voted for Adwoa Safo, what did she do for us? She has done nothing and we have never set our eyes on her after the election.

    “We have taken the MP position from her. She just has the title ‘MP’ but in our minds, she no longer represents us,” her comments translated by The Independent Ghana reads.

    Adwoa Safo, following her re-election has been absent from Parliament and her constituency.

    She has been abroad for almost a year. In an interview with JoyNews, Adwoa Safo, who doubles as the Gender Minister, revealed that her focus has been to nurse her sick child.

    Maintaining that this remains her priority, she revealed that she would only return to Ghana after seeing to the welfare of her son.

    “As you know, my son is unwell and has to transition to school, so I have to ensure that all that is settled before I can resume my duties and that is exactly what I am doing.

    “I have been doing a lot to take care of my children which the law requires and as you know here in the foreign land, I have to comply with whatever I am directed to do and until all that is sorted out, I have to do what I have to do and then I will return to my duties.”

    According to her, Ghanaians would be disappointed if she failed to live up to her mandate as the Gender Minister, therefore, her decision to choose her son over her duties here in Ghana.

    She made the revelation on May 27, the day she was to appear before the Privileges Committee of Parliament.

    Adwoa Safo indicated that she was not formally written to appear before the committee for interrogation after being referred by Speaker Bagbin together with two others for breaking the 15-sitting rule.

    The two are Ayawaso Central MP, Henry Quartey and the Assin Central MP, Kennedy Agyapong.

    According to the Dome Kwabenya trader in question, they will vote against Adwoa Safo in the next Parliamentary elections to elect someone who is ready to work.

    “We have taken our decision and we will vote against her. We do not know where she is so why should we vote for her again. She should remain abroad so we also stay here. We will look for someone who can work for us,”  her comments translated by The Independent Ghana reads.

    The continuous absence of Dome Kwabenya MP, Sarah Adwoa Safo, from Parliament and her constituency has led to a public uproar.

    Majority leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has advised the MP to  step aside and declare her seat vacant.

    He added that by so doing, the government will be able to hold bye-elections to choose a candidate committed to representing the people of Dome-Kwabenya in Parliament.

     

    Source: The Independent Ghana



  • Vacate your seat if you cannot be in Parliament – Majority Leader tells Adwoa Safo

    Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, the Majority Leader, has expressed his displeasure with Dome Kwabena MP Sarah Adowa Safo over her recent statement regarding her absence from Parliament.

    In an interview with Joy News last week, Madam Safo stated that her return to serve her country is dependent on her son’s health.

    In response, Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu stated that the MP’s absence for 15 sittings without the Speaker’s authorization is a violation of Standing Order 17(1) of Parliament and Article 97(1)(c) of the Constitution.

    The Suame legislator described Adwoa Safo’s absence as concerning in an interview with Okay FM, urging that she leave her position if she has no information of her return to parliament.

    Adwoa Safo, he claims, cannot abandon her responsibilities and deny her constituents the right to be heard and represented in parliament.  As a result, declaring her seat vacant would be a step in the right path.

    The Majority Leader added that by leaving her seat, the government will be able to hold bye-elections to choose a candidate committed to representing the people of Dome-Kwabenya in Parliament.

    She has been in the United States for over a year, looking after her children, especially one who, according to her, requires particular care due to medical concerns.

    Due to her prolonged absence, Adwoa Safo has been referred to the Privileges Committee with two other MPs, Henry Quartey of Ayawaso Central and Kennedy Agyapong of Assin North.

    The Privileges Committee was to meet the Dome Kwabenya MP today, May 27, over her absence in Parliament.

    However, due to her absence, the said interrogation which was to be held in private, as stated by Ranking Member on the Privileges Committee, Ricketts Kweku Hagan, would not take place.

    Source: The Independent Ghana

  • Parliamentary Privileges Committee ban media from covering 3 absentee MPs hearing

    The issue of absenteeism in Parliament where three Members of Parliament (MPs) have been referred to the Privileges Committee of Parliament for absenting themselves without permission from the Speaker will be heard in camera.

    The committee will start hearing the three absentee MPs, with Henry Quartey for Ayawaso Central as the first person followed by Sarah Adwoa Safo for Dome Kwabenya and then Kennedy Ohene Agyapong for Assin Central.

    The hearings will start on Thursday, May 26, 2022.

    The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, referred the three New Patriotic Party (NPP) MPs to the Privileges Committee of Parliament for absenting themselves from the House for more than 15 sitting days without his permission.

    But at a meeting of the committee on Wednesday (May 25, 2022), the members concluded that the media would not be admitted to cover the hearing.

    This is contrary to previous meetings and hearings of the 31-member committee which had been covered by the media.

    The problem of absenteeism in the House without permission from the Speaker had been a long-standing issue which needed to be addressed holistically.

    Hence, when the recent one came to the attention of the Speaker, he referred it to the Committee of Privileges to look into it.

    The findings of the committee could lead to the expulsion of the absentee MPs from Parliament if the report suggests so and is adopted by the plenary.

    Explaining why the media has been banned from covering the proceedings, a member of the committee, Kweku Ricketts Hagan, NDC MP for Cape Coast South explained that “the nature of evidence as we’ve been hinted might be on medical grounds…”

    “And it is on that basis that the [Privileges] Committee came to that conclusion that it would be best that we give the opportunity for people to come and be able to come and be able to discuss with us, charged with that responsibility on what the reasons were or the evidence.

    “Of course, when we are done with our work, we will put a report together and seeing the report, it will establish the reason why we recommended that a member should have a legitimate reason to still stay in Parliament or not and I think that will become a public information,” Kweku Ricketts Hagan, a member of the Committee of Privileges said in a radio interview with Accra based Citi FM on Wednesday evening [May 25, 2022] monitored by Graphic Online.

    Pressed further on why previous meetings of the committee had been covered by the media and this time around the media is being prevented from allowing the public to witness the proceedings, Mr Hagan said: “You are querying me on a decision that has been taken by the committee.”

    “I’m telling you the committee’s decision is that, we didn’t think that it will be appropriate to discuss what is likely to be health matters, because we know that at least two of them or all three of them have been dealing with some medical issues and we thought that it will not be appropriate,” Mr Hagan added.

    Source: Graphic online

  • Henry Quartey, Kennedy Agyapong, Adwoa Safo referred to privileges committee for absenteeism

    The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has been referred three Members of Parliament to the Privileges Committee of Parliament for their absenteeism.

    The three MPs are the Members of Parliament for the Dome Kwabenya Constituency, Sarah Adwoa Safo; Assin North, Kennedy Agyapong; and Ayawaso Central, Henry Quartey.

    They have been reported to have breached the 15-day rule after they have been absent for 15 sitting days without permission.

    They are to offer reasonable explanations before the Privileges Committee as to why they have been absent.

    Based on the committee report, the House will then vote to take a decision as to whether or not the seat will be declared vacant.

    Source: www.ghanaweb.com

  • If you want my position, you can come for it Annoh-Dompreh tells Adwoa Safo

    Majority Chief Whip, Frank Annoh-Dompreh, has once again lashed out at Dome-Kwabenya MP, Sarah Adwoa Safo, over her continuous absence from Parliament.

    According to the Nsawam Adoagyiri lawmaker, he cannot fathom why the Gender Minister will punish government in such a manner.

    In his opinion, the party has done a lot for the former Deputy Majority Leader for which the absentee MP should be grateful, rather than holding the party to ransom.

    Adwoa Safo was last seen in Parliament in December, 2021, when she appeared in the House to dismiss claims by the Minority Caucus that she was impersonated by someone who attended proceedings of the House the previous day.

    She has since not returned to the Chamber.

    Some leading government officials and some of her colleague MPs in Parliament accused her of blackmailing government with a list of demands, including the Deputy Majority Leader post.

    However, when asked about it, Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin said he is not aware of such demands.

    Just last week, Mr Annoh-Dompreh lamented how the Gender Minister who has been on leave since August 31, 2021, is throwing a spanner in the works of government business knowing very well the 8th Parliament is hung.

    He subsequently stated that his colleague MP, should bow her head in shame for frustrating government business in Parliament.

    “She has no basis whatsoever to behave the way she is behaving, I have been quiet, tolerant and diplomatic about this whole happening relative to Adwoa Safo, but the way it is going, she is blackmailing the entire system, which is most unfair,” he said in an interview with Evans Mensah.

    But in a new development, Mr Annoh-Dompreh has decleared his readiness to relinquish his position for his colleague if that is what it will take for her to return to Parliament.

    “What wrong have we done for her to treat us this way. I have vowed that if she wants my position as the Chief Whip, she can say it and I will give it to her and stay away,” he said in an interview on Accra-based Okay FM.

    He warned that his colleague should tread cautiously, stating her actions do not speak well for her political career.

    Source: myjoyonline.com

  • Dome-Kwabenya residents to demonstrate over Adwoa Safos absence in the constituency

    Some residents of the Dome-Kwabenya Constituency, in the Greater Accra Region, have disclosed a protest will be held against their Member of Parliament, Sarah Adwoa Safo.

    According to them, the purpose of the protest is due to her long absence in the constituency.

    They explained that Adwoa Safo’s long absence in the constituency is having an effect on the constituency as there has been no development since she left.

    The aggrieved residents are from Ashongman Estate, Dome, Kwabenya, and Musouku.

    The spokesperson for the group, Mr. Andy Kamkam, in an interview with Accra FM said the long absence of the MP has become a source of worry to the residents.

    “We demand some modicum of respect from our MP. This is not a matter of the NDC or NPP but about the development of the Constituency. The NPP can resolve whatever issues with Adwoa Safo at the party level but we, by right are demanding to know the whereabouts of our MP,” He said.

    Adwao Safo, who doubles as the Gender Minister, has been absent from the House all through the beginning of the year.

    Her absence has prevented the Majority from getting the full numbers to push for the passage of certain bills, particularly the E-Levy.

    The Majority Chief Whip, on Friday, March 18, called out the Dome-Kwabenya MP for holding the government to ransom.

    He told Joy FM in an interview that his colleague MP should bow her head in shame for frustrating government business in Parliament.

    “She has no basis whatsoever to behave the way she is behaving, I have been quiet, tolerant and diplomatic about this whole happening relative to Adwoa Safo, but the way it is going, she is blackmailing the entire system, which is most unfair,” he said.

    Source: www.ghanaweb.com