Attend Parliament or vacate your seat – Speaker Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin warns MPs
Members of Parliament (MPs) who consistently miss meetings without authorization run the possibility of losing their seats, according to Speaker of the House Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin.
Speaking before the House on Wednesday, October 29, 2025, the Speaker described the low attendance that has dogged parliamentary sessions since the House reconvened last week as a threat to the legislature’s integrity.
Despite compiling attendance figures for the first and second meetings of the year, Mr. Bagbin disclosed that he purposefully postponed their disclosure in the hopes that MPs would demonstrate progress. But he acknowledged that the choice had backfired.
“It appears that I made a disastrous error,” he remarked. “I ought to have brought it up and directed members to the Privileges Committee.”
In accordance with the Standing Orders and constitutional standards, the Speaker cautioned that members who did not meet the attendance criteria would face disciplinary action. He also mentioned that he had given parliamentary clerks instructions to take precise attendance for the present meeting.
“I have instructed the clerks seated at the table to collect the meeting’s records. He clearly declared, “We will be taking action to compel members to sit or to be considered to have vacated their seats.”
“It’s for good reason we decided that we’ll sit in the afternoons so that you can take the morning to attend committee meetings, prepare reports, and attend to your constituents and that by 2 p.m., you should be ready to sit,” he reminded lawmakers.
