The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has officially announced that Ghana’s Parliament will reconvene on Monday, December 16, 2024. This will mark the start of the 7th meeting of the 4th session of the 8th Parliament.

However, Speaker Bagbin noted that the specific venue for the session will be communicated to Members of Parliament at a later date.

The announcement was made through a notice issued on December 2, 2024, and signed by Speaker Bagbin. The notice, in accordance with Order 58 of the Parliament’s standing orders, states:

“Pursuant to order 58 of the standing orders of the Parliament of Ghana, I, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, Speaker of Parliament, hereby give notice that the seventh meeting of the fourth session of the eighth parliament of the Fourth Republic shall commence on Monday, the 16th day of December 2024, at ten o’clock in the forenoon at a place to be appointed by the speaker in due course.”

This reconvening follows the buildup to the general elections and will allow Parliament to address important matters ahead of the polls.

The decision to reconvene Parliament on December 16, 2024, means that the legislature will resume after the December 7 general elections, during which new Members of Parliament for both the Majority and Minority sides will be elected.

This move comes after Speaker Alban Bagbin rejected a request by Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin to call Parliament back on November 28 and 29, 2024, to address urgent matters. Speaker Bagbin maintained that parliamentary activities would remain suspended until after the general elections.

The adjournment followed Speaker Bagbin’s suspension of proceedings, citing the absence of a prepared agenda from the Business Committee as the reason for the break.

In a related development, on Tuesday, November 12, the Supreme Court overturned Speaker Bagbin’s decision to declare four parliamentary seats vacant. The Court ruled in favor of a challenge brought by Afenyo-Markin, clarifying that a parliamentary seat can only be declared vacant if a lawmaker switches political parties while retaining their position in Parliament.

The Court’s judgment, issued on November 14, further stated that the Speaker’s decision could not take effect within the current parliamentary term. However, two dissenting justices argued that the Supreme Court lacked jurisdiction to adjudicate the case, signaling a division in the interpretation of the Court’s authority over such matters.

Full statement below: