NDC MPs Occupy Majority Side in Anticipation of NPP Caucus Arrival

Parliament has resumed sitting today, November 7, 2024, at the Accra International Conference Centre, with an unexpected position taken by members of the National Democratic Congress. The NDC MPs have occupied the seats reserved for the majority, normally retained by the New Patriotic Party caucus. 

Before Parliament was indefinitely suspended, the two parties had been arguing over who occupies the majority seat since the Speaker of Parliament declared four seats vacant, making the NDC the new majority in Parliament. 

As speaker of parliament, Alban Bagbin proposed that parliament will resume today; efforts have been made and arrangements put in place to ensure a smooth proceeding. As of now, the NDC has occupied the majority caucus while waiting for the NPP to make its way to parliament. 

Saboba MP Joseph Bukari has expressed disgust and slammed what he described as their opponents' perennial lateness and lack of commitment to parliamentary duties. "The governing side is not serious," he fumed. We are here to do business. They triggered the provisions for the Speaker to recall us, so we thought they would have been here. Completely nobody is here, and that leads us to conclude that they are not serious about government business."

The Speaker Alban Bagbin summoned the House to ensure that pressing national issues relating to budgetary allocations and critical legislative reforms were given due attention. Discussions around these matters are of a high degree of significance to national development and, thus, touch on everyday livelihood in Ghana. What the NDC members implied is that, with their presence, they mean business in considering these urgent matters; the delay from the NPP just keeps up the tension that has characterized parliamentary proceeding in recent times.