The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has announced the recall of Parliament on Monday, December 16, 2024.
The venue for the seventh meeting of the fourth session of the Eighth Parliament will be communicated to Members of Parliament (MPs) at a later date.
In a notice issued on December 2, signed by the Speaker. It stated: “Pursuant to Order 58 of the Standing Orders of the Parliament of Ghana, I, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, Speaker of Parliament, hereby give notice that the seventh meeting of the fourth session of the eighth Parliament of the Fourth Republic shall commence on Monday, the 16th day of December 2024, at ten o’clock in the forenoon, at a place to be appointed by the Speaker in due course.”
Parliament will reconvene after the December 7 general elections, during which new MPs will be elected for both the Majority and Minority sides.
The decision to resume follows Speaker Bagbin’s earlier refusal to grant a request by Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin to recall Parliament on November 28 and 29 to address pressing issues.
The Speaker maintained that parliamentary activities would remain suspended until after the elections, citing the absence of a prepared agenda from the Business Committee as the reason for the initial adjournment.
Meanwhile, on November 12, the Supreme Court overturned Speaker Bagbin’s decision to declare four parliamentary seats vacant. In its ruling, delivered after a challenge by Afenyo-Markin, the Court clarified that a parliamentary seat could only be declared vacant if a lawmaker switches political parties while retaining their position in Parliament.
Furthermore, the Court ruled that the Speaker’s decision could not take effect within the current parliamentary term.
The judgment, released in detail on November 14, saw five justices siding with the Majority Leader, while two dissenting justices argued that the Supreme Court lacked jurisdiction to adjudicate the matter, highlighting differing interpretations of the Court’s authority.
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