Okaikwei Central MP, Patrick Yaw Boamah, has petitioned Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin to remove him from Ghana’s delegation to the Pan-African Parliament, where he was listed as an observer.
In a memo to the Speaker, Boamah questioned the basis of his designation, arguing that the agreed formula for selecting members entitled the Minority Caucus to two full representatives, not an observer slot.
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“Mr. Speaker, I respectfully write to formally withdraw from the reconstituted list of Ghana’s delegation to the Pan-African Parliament as an Observer, as adopted by the House in a resolution on Tuesday, 22nd July, 2025,” he stated, attaching evidence from parliamentary records.
The MP explained that his checks with the Pan-African Parliament Secretariat confirmed that observers cannot participate in plenary or committee meetings and are only allowed to attend sittings. He stressed that this limited role undermined both his mandate and Ghana’s representation.
Citing the 68:32 ratio used to allocate parliamentary committees and seats on the ECOWAS Parliament delegation, Boamah maintained that the Minority is guaranteed two full members and that his rightful inclusion was being disregarded.
He added that his decision to withdraw as an observer was to prevent any potential embarrassment to the Parliament of Ghana and Ghanaians as a whole.
Despite his petition, Speaker Bagbin declined the request, emphasising that the delegation had been adopted by resolution of Parliament and could only be altered through a substantive motion.
Boamah’s withdrawal leaves the Minority with just one representative in the Pan-African Parliament—a situation they argue breaches the established allocation and undermines their rights. It is the first time in the history of the Pan-African Parliament that Ghana’s Minority Caucus has had only a single member on the delegation.
The Minority MPs accused the Speaker of enabling the Majority to use its numbers to sidestep due process, further heightening tensions over what they describe as an erosion of fairness and balance in parliamentary representation.