The much talked about Talensi seat has now been declared vacant by the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Edward Doe Adjaho.
This follows a letter he received from occupant of the seat, Hon. Robert Nachinab Doameng Mosore, announcing his resignation after being enskined Paramount Chief of Tongo in the Talensi Traditional Area.
He therefore, ordered the Clerk of Parliament to inform the Electoral Commission about the resignation of Mr. Mosore as MP for Talensi as stipulated in Article 112 (5) of the Constitution.
The said article states “Whenever a vacancy occurs in Parliament, the Clerk to Parliament shall notify the Electoral Commission in writing within seven days after the vacancy occurred, and a by-election shall be held within thirty days after the vacancy occurred.”
The Speaker on Friday, June 5, 2015, served notice to the lawmakers during a plenary sitting that the House could not wait for Mr. Mosore to decide on his own as to when to vacate the seat after being enskined Paramount Chief of Tongo.
“It is not for him to determine when he should resign. I have given him some time to hear from him. However, as I speak now, I have decided that if I don’t hear from him, then on Tuesday, I will rule on the matter.”
In April, 2015, Mr. Mosore who is representing the people of Talensi on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) ascended the throne of the Tongo Paramountcy following the death of the Tongo-Raana, Sapaalug-Namalteng Boara Yenga Kolbil.
However, he came under severe criticism, especially from the Majority side of the House for not officially informing the legislature over his enskinment.
On Tuesday, May 19, 2015, the Majority Chief Whip, Alhaji Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka, drew the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Ebo Barton-Odro’s attention to the issue, arguing that the NPP MP should have resigned his seat before contesting the paramountcy.
Hon. Barton-Odro who was then presiding over the sitting gave a sixteen-day ultimatum to the MP to either be heard or seen in the House, failure of which the House would have no option than to refer him to the Privileges Committee for questioning.
Order 17 of the Standing Orders of Parliament states that “A Member who desires to resign his seat in the House shall notify Mr. Speaker in writing under his hand of his intention to resign seat and Mr. Speaker shall inform the House as soon as practicable”.
Order 18 of the Standing Orders further states that “The seat of a Member shall be declared vacant by Mr. Speaker under clause (1) (b) to (h) of Article 97 of the Constitution”.
Article 97 (1) of the Constitution states that a Member of Parliament shall vacate his seat in Parliament – (a) upon a dissolution of Parliament; or (b) if he is elected as Speaker of Parliament; or (c) if he is absent, without permission in writing of the Speaker and he is unable to offer a reasonable explanation to the Parliamentary Committee on Privileges from fifteen sittings of a meeting of Parliament during any period that Parliament has been summoned to meet and continues to meet.
A by-election is expected anytime soon.
By: Kasapafmonline.com/Ghana
