The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin has once again indefinitely adjourned Parliament, following an extraordinary session that was halted due to a lack of attendance from majority members of parliament who requested it.
This meeting, the fourth session of the eighth Parliament of the fourth Republic, was convened after two separate requests for recall, submitted on October 22 and October 24, 2024, were filed under Article 112(3) of the Constitution and Order 53 of Parliament’s standing orders. Both requests exceeded the constitutional requirement of support from 15% of all Members of Parliament.
The initial request sought to discuss a limited agenda with only a few items of urgent government business. However, the second request, filed by members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), expanded the agenda significantly, adding 70 more items for Parliament’s consideration. Both requests were signed on behalf of the second Deputy Majority by Alex Tetteh Joe Dubois.
Upon receiving these requests, the Speaker fulfilled the constitutional obligation to issue summons, notifying members of the extraordinary meeting.
However, when the session commenced, the majority MPs who had called for the recall failed to appear, leaving one side of the chamber entirely empty.
This absence the Speaker noted prevented the Business Committee from convening to set the agenda, meaning no order paper was available and, consequently, no formal business could be conducted.
Due to this situation, and without a report from the Business Committee outlining the week’s agenda, the Speaker found no authority to proceed with legislative activities.
He expressed concern about the impracticality of convening Parliament only to adjourn repeatedly, especially given the challenges this poses to the legislative process. As a result, the Speaker made the decision to adjourn the extraordinary session indefinitely, leaving the House without the opportunity to address the expanded list of agenda items.