President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has revoked the appointment of Sarah Adwoa Safo, Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection with immediate effect.
The President, whose decision is in accordance with article 81 (a) of the Constitution, has asked the Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah, to continue to act as caretaker for the Gender, Children and Social Protection Ministry, until a substantive Minister is appointed.
This was contained in a press release issued on Thursday by the Communications Director at the Office of the President, Eugene Arhin.
Sarah Adwoa Safo, who is the sitting Member of Parliament for Dome Kwabenya, has been absent from the Parliament for almost the whole of this year, in clear breach of Article 97(1)c of the 1992 constitution.
The Privileges Committee of Parliament, which was tasked to investigate the Hon. Sarah Adwoa Safo’s absence delivered a split decision on the fate of Dome-Kwabenya MP.
The committee failed to achieve a consensus in its recommendations on whether absenting herself for more than the mandatory 15 days without permission warranted her seat to be declared vacant.
The Majority in Parliament, who wants the seat declared vacant without delay in line with stated constitutional provisions, maintains that Sarah Adwoa Safo failed to take advantage of the numerous opportunities to explain her absence without leave.
The Majority Member of Parliament on the committee cited Article 97 (1) (c) of the 1992 Constitution and the Court of Appeal decision in the case of Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare v the Attorney General & 3 Others, in this regard.
However, the Minority Member of Parliament on the committee argued that based on the principle of natural justice, the seat should not be declared vacant because Adwoa Safo did not provide her side of the issue to the committee.
Rex Mainoo Yeboah, ISD
