Ghana’s parliament adjourned indefinitely on Tuesday following a legal dispute over the speaker’s decision to declare four parliamentary seats vacant the decision, announced by speaker Alban Bagbin, effectively halts all legislative activity less than two months before the country’s general elections and could freeze the passage of critical bills and budgetary approvals.
Ghana is often regarded as a beacon of political stability in a region prone to unrest but this Parliament has not been without its share of turbulence — during its inauguration in 2021, when soldiers intervened to restore order after an outright brawl.
Tuesday’s adjournment was triggered by a standoff between the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), which now holds a slim majority after the defection of four lawmakers Ghana’s constitution bars MPs from defecting from the party they were elected under to run for another party or as independents, a rule central to the current dispute.
The seats the speaker declared vacant included two from the NPP, one from the NDC, and one independent MP we don’t have at least half of all members of parliament present,” Bagbin stated, citing Ghana’s parliamentary rules in view of the current circumstances, the fact that there’s a question on the composition of Parliament… I will proceed to adjourn the House indefinitely.
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