In an unusual turn of events, Speaker of Parliament, Ms. Anita Among, prematurely adjourned the plenary session on September 6, 2023. The reason? None of the entire cabinet of ministers bothered to grace the House with their presence as scheduled for the day.
The Speaker didn’t mince words, stating, “This afternoon, I was compelled to adjourn House Business prematurely because of the absence of a single Minister to respond to critical national matters. The issues raised by MPs concern the well-being of our people whom we represent and must be given priority.” Speaker Among expressed her frustration on Twitter minutes after adjourning the plenary.
Leading up to this abrupt adjournment, the Speaker had repeatedly expressed her dissatisfaction with the persistent absenteeism of cabinet ministers despite her stern warnings.
“We cannot come here as Members of Parliament, waste our time, talk, and nobody is here to respond, and yet they are paid highly,” Ms. Among remarked. She emphasized, “We have 83 ministers, and for that reason, I first want to meet with the executive on this matter. Let’s adjourn the House until we have this issue resolved.”
This isn’t the first time Speaker Among has taken a stand on the issue of inconsistent attendance by some Members of Parliament during plenary sittings. Last August, she had already shown her displeasure with legislators who habitually skipped House proceedings despite the substantial taxpayer funds allocated for their duties.
“We are using taxpayers’ money. The money that they are paying us is from taxpayers, and you aren’t in your constituencies, you aren’t in the house, so where are you? And you are talking about accountability, so what are you accounting for? You aren’t anywhere, you aren’t helping or legislating for your people. We are going to give you warning letters, we are going to take action,” Ms. Among had sternly warned at that time.