Only 7 defeated NPP MPs turned up for parliament
Some 43 NPP MPs were defeated in the party’s parliamentary primaries last Saturday and only seven showed up for work in Parliament Tuesday as sittings resumed.
It is a precursor to concerns legislative work is set to suffer as the general elections in December approaches.
Parliament is counting its losses after key MPs lost their seats. The biggest names are the chairman of the Finance Committee of Parliament, Dr. Mark Assibey Yeboah and chairperson of the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee Ben Abdallah.
On the first day of work after the weekend of the primaries, only seven of the defeated MPs showed up.
They include MP for Nyiaeso, Kennedy Kankam; MP for Akwatia, Ama Sey; MP for Shama, Ato Panford; MP for Dadekotopon, Vincent Sowah Odotei.
The rest were Ablekuma North MP, Nana Akua Afriyie; New Juaben South MP, Mark Assibey Yeboah, and MP for Akim Oda, William Quaitoo.
‘Once you win a fight prepare to lose one’ – Speaker consoles defeated MPs
Following the poor attendance of the defeated MPs, the Speaker of the house, Prof. Mike Aaron Ocquaye took some time to console those who lost their seats.
‘You cannot always win and you will not lose forever,’ he said.
Professor Oquaye appealed to the MPs who lost to be committed and be punctual until the end of the Seventh Parliament under the Fourth Republic in January 2020.
“Once you win a fight, be prepared to lose one,” he told the legislators in the chamber.
Professor Oquaye has found himself consoling his son Mike Oquaye Jnr who once again lost a bid to unseat the deputy Majority leader in parliament, Adwoa Safo.
The MP for Dome Kwabenya is also the Minister of State in charge of Public Procurement.
The Speaker once held the seat and went on to become Ghana’s High Commissioner to India.
But efforts by his son to replace his father has been frustrated by Sarah Adwoa Safo twice. First in 2012 and now in 2020.
This time, eight votes separated the two with Sarah Adwoa Safo obtaining 496 votes as against Oquaye’s 488.