ECOWAS Parliament: Osahen Is Deputy Speaker Till 2028

The recent bizarre attempt by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Majority in Parliament to oust the Minority Leader, Osahen Alexander Afenyo-Markin from the ECOWAS Parliament has become an exercise in futility because per the laws governing the ECOWAS Parliament, the tenure of a Member, more so, an elected Deputy Speaker is fixed and as long as he has won his Effutu Constituency seat, no person, group or nation can remove him unless he himself voluntarily resigns, takes a position in the Executive or dies.

Under the Supplementary Act A/SA.1/12/16, governing the ECOWAS Parliament, a Member State cannot unilaterally or arbitrarily replace a sitting Member of the ECOWAS Parliament during their fixed term and any attempt to do so without meeting the legal conditions would be inconsistent with ECOWAS law and practice.

The law, in Article 18 (2) of the Supplementary Act clearly states that Members of the ECOWAS Parliament shall be elected for four (4) years from the date of the inauguration of the ECOWAS Parliament.

It explains that this mandate shall last until the last day of the legislature and the fixed term is protected and cannot be interrupted arbitrarily by national authorities.

It adds that once a Member is duly elected and sworn in, their mandate is independent of national political changes or internal reassignments.

It was categorical that based on Articles 24 and 25 of the Supplementary Act, the tenure of the Speaker and Deputy Speakers shall be for the life of the Legislature.

Mama Patricia Shames NDC Majority

Apart from this entrenched law that takes away the power from the NDC Majority to stage a successful coup against Afenyo-Markin, the very person the NDC Majority named as his replacement – Madam Patricia Appiagyei, has officially written to the Speaker, Alban Bagbin, saying she is not interested in replacing Afenyo-Markin at the ECOWAS Parliament.

In that communication to the Speaker, Patricia Appiagyei said she sees the development as a calculated effort to cause division between herself and the Minority Leader.

Madam Patricia Appiagyei, who doubles as the deputy Minority Leader and MP for the Asokwa Constituency, has gone ahead to reveal to the Speaker that by an internal arrangement among the leadership of the Minority, she has already taken the place of the Minority Leader on Ghana’s delegation to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and also at the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA).

She explained further that it had also been agreed that while she takes membership of the IPU and the CPA, “the Minority Leader, Hon Alexander Afenyo-Markin, shall continue to serve on Ghana’s delegation to the ECOWAS Parliament, in view of his current role as the Third Deputy Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament and the fixed tenure associated with that office.”

An official statement from Patricia Appiagyei that she is on the CPA and IPU, exposes the untruths peddled by Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka, Interior Minister and MP for Asaware on the Floor of Parliament in the thick of the plot against Afenyo-Markin that he alone had taken upon himself membership of the IPU and CPA yet refused to yield the ECOWAS slot to his deputy.

Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka is yet to apologies for and retract that clear misinformation he put out in a House of records.

Official records from Parliament reveal that in the eight Parliament, even when Afenyo-Markin was Majority Leader from February 2024 to December of same year, he did not take a place at the IPU, declined membership at the CPA but remained at the ECOWAS Parliament where he climbed to the position of Third Deputy Speaker.

Madam Patricia Appiagyei, in an earlier Memo to Speaker Bagbin, has clearly stated her decision to not be a part of the ECOWAS Parliament.

She noted: “Mr. Speaker, prior to today’s proceedings, there was an understanding by leadership that the Minority Leader would be on the ECOWAS Parliament delegation, as was communicated to the Committee of Selection. It is therefore deeply troubling that a contrary nomination was advanced on the floor without consultation and even more so that proposal was made by the Majority Leader.

“Mr. Speaker, beyond the procedural impropriety, this action also contravenes the legal and institutional framework governing the ECOWAS Parliament. Once a member is sworn in as an ECOWAS Parliamentarian, the Member’s tenure runs for a term of four years. When elected as Speaker or Deputy Speaker, that tenure is coterminous with the parliamentary term.

“Hon. Afenyo-Markin was duly sworn in as a Member of the ECOWAS Parliament last year and subsequently elected as a Deputy Speaker. His tenure, by law and by ECOWAS protocol, remains valid and ongoing. There is therefore no legal or procedural justification for his removal and any attempt to replace him on the delegation not only breaches internal parliamentary practice but also violates ECOWAS statutes.

“Furthermore, consistent with ECOWAS Parliamentary practice, a sitting Member cannot be removed from the delegation unless the Member voluntarily resigns, is removed from office, appointed to the Executive or as a fudge, or otherwise become ineligible under the governing rules. The Minority leader has not vacated his scat, nor has he been disqualified under any such criteria. Any action outside these parameters is completely against the Supplementary Act and the rules of the ECOWAS Parliament and may be rejected by the ECOWAS Parliament itself.”

… Patrick Yaw Boamah rejects observer seat at Pan African Parliament

In a related development, the Member of Parliament for the Okaikwei Central Constituency, Patrick Yaw Boamah has also written to the Speaker, Alban Bagbin, to serve notice that he has withdrawn from Ghana’s delegation to the Pan-African Parliament, to avoid any potential embarrassment to the Parliament of Ghana and Ghanaians as a whole.

Patrick Boamah explains that the ‘observer’ status under which he was added as a member of Ghana’s delegation is unfair to the Minority Caucus based on the ratio for selection of members to form a delegation.

The Memo, dated Wednesday July 23, 2025 read:

SUBJECT: WITHDRAWAL FROM GHANA’S DELEGATION TO THE PAN-AFRICAN PARLIAMENT AS AN OBSERVER

Rt. Hon. Speaker, I respectfully write to formally withdraw from the reconstituted list of Ghana’s delegation to the Pan-African Parliament as an Observer as adopted by the House in a resolution on Tuesday, 22nd July, 2025, as evidenced in the copy of the attached votes and proceedings of Tuesday 22nd July, 2025.

Mr. Speaker, my checks with the Pan-African Parliament Secretariat indicates that Observers are not permitted to participate in plenary sitting or committee meeting. Observers are only permitted to attend upon meeting.

Mr. Speaker, under the established formula for committees and delegations, my inclusion is by right, as the Minority Caucus is entitled to two representatives. The 68:32 ratio-which guided the allocation of committee memberships—was equally applied in constituting the ECOWAS Parliament delegation.

In view of the above, I humbly write to withdraw from the delegation as an observer to avoid any potential embarrassment to the Parliament of Ghana and Ghanaians as a whole.

Thank you.