The Member of Parliament for Mpraeso and Public Accounts Committee (PAC) member, Davis Ansah Opoku, has criticised the Majority side in Parliament following the suspension of a PAC sitting due to quorum issues.
Speaking on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem, he argued that the ruling NDC, which holds a commanding majority in Parliament, has sufficient numbers to meet quorum requirements without relying on the Minority.
“For the past three days, the numbers of the Majority MPs have not been encouraging,” he said, noting that with 189 seats, the Majority should easily meet quorum obligations, especially at the committee level.
“You have 189 MPs, and at the PAC, our strength is 24: 6 Minority MPs and 18 Majority MPs. Eighteen out of 189—they can still form a quorum,” he stressed.
Mr. Opoku added that the Majority has ample capacity to sustain committee work if properly mobilised. “They can even run 24-hour shifts in three rotations and still manage,” he remarked.
He said the decision to halt committee proceedings has disrupted critical parliamentary work, particularly the ongoing scrutiny of the Auditor-General’s report. The Committee had been given a two-week timeline to examine the report following a directive from the Finance Ministry.
“So I wonder why such a public interest case… the Majority can use a whip system to stop the process,” he said.
Mr. Opoku further noted that key individuals, including officials nearing retirement, had already been invited to appear before the Committee. However, the Majority’s inability to mobilise its members has stalled the process. “Because of the Majority’s failure to gather their numbers, they decided to stampede the process,” he added.
He rejected claims that heavy parliamentary business in the chamber justified the suspension of committee sittings, noting, “It is not the Auditor-General who asked us to look into the report. It was the Deputy Finance Minister.”
Insisting that quorum requirements do not demand the presence of all MPs, Mr. Opoku argued that the Majority can proceed independently. “You don’t need 276 MPs in a chamber to administer heavy parliamentary business… the NDC can form a quorum with or without the NPP, so what are they talking about?” he questioned.
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