A new parliamentary attendance audit has revealed that several Members of Parliament (MPs) failed to attend sittings without obtaining official authorisation.
The report, which covers forty-three (43) sittings held between January and March 2025, shows that some legislators were absent repeatedly, with a few recording more than twenty (20) unauthorised absences.
The report was made public after the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, expressed concern over the persistent absenteeism among MPs and warned that disciplinary measures would be enforced against those who continue to flout attendance rules.
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Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday, October 29, the Speaker disclosed that although he had received attendance reports for both the first and second meetings, he had initially chosen not to make them public, expecting attendance to improve. He, however, admitted that the decision had not yielded the desired results.
Mr Bagbin has now directed parliamentary clerks to record attendance for the current meeting with greater accuracy. He emphasised that MPs who continue to absent themselves without permission will face sanctions as outlined in Parliament’s standing orders.
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The 1992 Constitution of Ghana clearly stipulates the consequences of unauthorised absenteeism. Article 97(1)(c) states:
A Member of Parliament shall vacate his seat in Parliament if he is absent, without the permission in writing of the Speaker, and is unable to offer a reasonable explanation to the Parliamentary Committee on Privileges, for fifteen sittings of a meeting of Parliament during any period that Parliament has been summoned to meet and continues to meet.
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Below is the full list of the twenty-eight (28) Members of Parliament identified as having missed sittings without permission during the first quarter of 2025.