Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga has defended Parliament’s longstanding practice of considering the circumstances surrounding an MP’s absence before declaring a parliamentary seat vacant, amid growing debate over the prolonged absence of the Member of Parliament for Asante Akyem North, Kwame Ohene Frimpong.
Speaking on Citi FM’s Eyewitness News on Wednesday, July 15, Mr Ayariga suggested that Parliament was unlikely to invoke Article 97(1)(c) of the 1992 Constitution against the legislator, who has been absent following his arrest in the Netherlands.
Mr Frimpong was arrested at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam on May 8 over allegations of money laundering and romance scam-related offences and has since been unable to attend parliamentary sittings.
His absence has sparked discussions over whether his seat should be declared vacant after missing more than 15 consecutive sittings without permission, as stipulated under the Constitution.
However, Mr Ayariga maintained that Parliament has consistently distinguished between MPs who voluntarily absent themselves and those prevented from attending due to circumstances beyond their control.
“The practice of the House has always been that if a person is absent due to circumstances beyond the control of that person, we wait. Such as, the person is arrested and incarcerated and being prosecuted,” he said.
According to the Majority Leader, an MP who is being detained cannot reasonably be expected to attend parliamentary proceedings.
“The person is absent because he has been apprehended elsewhere and is being detained against his will and even if he wanted to come to Parliament, he would not be able to come,” he explained.
Mr Ayariga cautioned that applying the constitutional provision solely on the basis of missed sittings could create an undesirable precedent.
He argued that such an interpretation could expose lawmakers to politically motivated actions, where arrests or prosecutions could be used as a tool to trigger the loss of parliamentary seats.
“If we allowed that precedent, what will happen is that an MP is arrested on the basis of trumped-up charges and then after 15 days, I will say his seat is vacant,” he stated.
His comments come as public debate continues over the constitutional implications of Mr Frimpong’s prolonged absence and Parliament’s responsibility in determining whether the conditions for declaring a seat vacant have been met.
