Parliament is yet to determine the fate of the Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central, Kennedy Agaypong, after the Privileges Committee recommended that he be suspended for the rest of the session or reprimanded.
Although the Speaker of Parliament, Aaron Mike Ocquaye, gave an indication he was was keen on taking the Committee’s report on Tuesday, it was deferred to Wednesday.
However, the issue was not called on Wednesday as scheduled, even though it was on the order paper.
In the last session of Parliament, the MP was hauled be the Privileges Committee over alleged contemptuous comments he made that the legislative body was ” cheap and useless”.
The Committee held a public hearing and took evidence from the complainant as well as response from the MP, who was the respondent in the matter.
The Committee in its report said it found the conduct of the MP to be in contempt of Parliament and recommended that he should be suspended for the rest of the session or be reprimanded.
But since July last year, the Committee’s report is yet to be taken on the floor, even though it is frequently indicated in the agenda of Parliament.
Section 36 of the Parliament Act indicates that an MP found to be in contempt of Parliament may be suspended for a period not exceeding nine months. It adds the MP must leave the precincts of Parliament and shall not enter again while in suspension and that the MP shall forfeit the allowances to which he or she would otherwise be entitled to.
Under Section 37 of the Act also, a member found to be in contempt of Parliament could be expelled.
In the case of Kennedy Agyapong, however, the Committee did not consider expulsion because according to its report the Assin Central legislator rendered an apology to the Committee when evidence showed that he indeed made contemptuous comments.
By Evelyn Tengmaa|3news.com|Ghana