The First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei-Owusu has indicated that the Majority Caucus does not factor Dome-Kwabenya MP, Sarah Adwoa Safo, into its deliberations in Parliament.
According to the Bekwai MP, all avenues to get the absentee MP to return to the House have proved futile.As a result, the Majority in Parliament has resolved to conduct parliamentary business, going forward, without recourse to the Dome-Kwabenya MP.Speaking on Kumasi-based Pure FM, Mr Osei-Owusu said, “in our strategy, we have taken it as going to rescue a kidnapped person, you presume she is dead, but if you go and she is alive, then it is God’s grace, and it adds to your gains, so that is our approach.
“So as it stands now, we don’t count her as part of us,” he stated.
Mr. Osei-Owusu also divulged that Dome-Kwabenya MP told Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, not to call her phone again.
According to him, Miss Safo has indicated that she prefers to communicate through text messages instead of phone calls.
“The Majority Leader used to communicate with her often, but the last time, he [Majority Leader] told me she said he shouldn’t call again, but send messages instead, which she responds to, but not phone calls,” he said.
Miss Adwoa Safo was last seen in Parliament in December 2021, when she appeared in the House to dismiss claims by the Minority Caucus that she was impersonated.
She has since not returned to the Chamber. Her action has infuriated her colleagues who have accused her of blackmailing government with a list of demands, including the Deputy Majority Leader post.
But the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) leadership has admitted that the Dome -Kwabenya MP, Sarah Adwoa Safo’s absence is affecting the party and government business.
Speaking on Joy FM, the party’s General Secretary, John Boadu, noted that with Ghana’s hung Parliament, the Gender Minister’s absence is adversely affecting government’s business in Parliament.
He also mentioned that the party is currently considering measures including triggering the constitutional provision to remove her as MP and declare her seat vacant.