Constitution of the Republic of Ghana
CHAPTER TEN
THE LEGISLATURE
Composition of Parliament
93.
(2) Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the legislative power of Ghana shall be vested in Parliament and shall be exercised in accordance with this Constitution.
(b) he is resident in the constituency for which he stands as a candidate for election to Parliament or has resided there for a total period of not less than five years out of the ten years immediately preceding the election for which he stands, or he hails from that constituency; and
(c) he has paid all his taxes or made arrangements satisfactory to the appropriate authority for the payment of his taxes.
(b) has been adjudged or otherwise declared-
(ii) to be of unsound mind or is detained as a criminal lunatic under any law in force in Ghana; or
(ii) for nay other offence punishable by death or by a sentence of not less than ten years; or
(iii) for an offence relating to, or connected with election under a law in force in Ghana at any time; or
(e) is under sentence of death or other sentence of imprisonment imposed on him by any court; or
(f) is not qualified to be registered as a voter under any law relating to public elections; or
(g) is other wise disqualified by a law in force at the time of the coming into force of this Constitution, not being inconsistent with a provision of this Constitution.
(b) is a member of the Police Service, the Prisons Service, the Armed Forces, the Judicial Service, the Legal Service, the Civil Service, the Audit Service, the Parliamentary Service, the Statistical Service, the Fire Service, the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service, the Immigration Service, or the Internal Revenue Service; or
(c) is a Chief.
(5) A person shall not be taken to be disqualified to be a member of Parliament under paragraph (c) or (d) of clause (2) of this article if –
(b) he has been pardoned.
(2) The Speaker shall vacate his office –
(b) if he resigns from office by writing signed by him and addressed to the Clerk to Parliament; or
(c) if any circumstances arise that, if he were not Speaker, would disqualify him for election as a member of Parliament; or
(d) if he is removed from office by a resolution of Parliament supported by the votes of not less than three-quarters of all the members of Parliament.
(4) A person elected to the office of Speaker shall, before entering upon the duties of his office, take and subscribe before Parliament the oath of allegiance and the Speaker’s oath set out in the Second Schedule to this Constitution.
(5) The Speaker shall receive such salary and allowances, and on retirement, such retiring a wards as may be determined in accordance with article 71 of this Constitution.
(6) The salary and allowances payable to the Speaker and any retiring awards payable to him on retirement shall be charged on the Consolidated Fund.
(7) The salary and other allowances payable to the Speaker shall not be varied to his disadvantage during his tenure of office.
(b) both of whom shall not be members of the same political party.
(3) The provisions of clause (2) of article 95 of this Constitution shall apply in the case of a Deputy Speaker.
(b) if he is elected as Speaker of Parliament; or
(c) if he is absent, without the permission in writing of the Speaker and he is unable to offer a reasonable explanation to the Parliamentary Committee on Privileges from fifteen sittings of a meeting of Parliament during any period that Parliament has been summoned to meet and continues to meet; or
(d) if he is expelled from parliament after having been found guilty of contempt of Parliament by a committee of Parliament; or
(e) if any circumstances arise such that, if he were not a member of Parliament, would cause him to be disqualified or ineligible for election, under article 94 of this Constitution; or
(f) if he resigns from office as a member of Parliament by writing under his hand addressed to the Speaker; or
(g) if he leaves the party of which he was a member at the time of his election to Parliament to join another party or seeks to remain in Parliament as an independent member; or
(h) if he was elected a member of Parliament as an independent candidate and joins a political party.
(2) A member of Parliament shall not hold any office of profit or emolument, whether private or public and either directly or indirectly, unless permitted to do so by the Speaker acting on the recommendations of a committee of Parliament on the grounds that –
(b) no conflict of interest arises or would arise as a result of the member holding that office.
(b) a person has been validly elected as a Speaker of Parliament or, having been so elected, has vacated the office of Speaker.
Procedure in Parliament
(2) A member of Parliament may, before taking the oaths referred to in clause (1) of this article, take part in the election of the Speaker.
(2) The standing committees shall be appointed at the first meeting of Parliament after the election of the Speaker and the Deputy Speakers.
(3) Committees of Parliament shall be charged with such functions, including the investigation and inquiry into the activities and administration of ministries and departments as parliament may determine; and such investigation and inquiries may extend to proposals for legislation.
(4) Every member of Parliament shall be a member of at least one of the standing committees.
(5) The composition of the committees shall, as much as possible, reflect the different shades of opinion in Parliament.
(6) A committee appointed under this article shall have the powers, rights and privileges of the High Court or a Justice of the High Court at a trial for –
(b) compelling the production of documents; and
(c) issuing a commission or request to examine witnesses abroad.
(2) The Speaker shall have neither an original nor casting vote.
(3) Where the votes on any motion are equal it shall be taken to be lost.
(4) Where Parliament is considering a bill to amend the Constitution, or where the voting is in relation to the election or removal of any person under this Constitution or under any other law, voting shall be in secret.
(5) A member who is a party to or a partner in a firm which is a party to a contract with the Government shall declare his interest and shall not vote on any question relating to the contract.
(2) No bill, other than such a bill as is referred to in paragraph (a) of article 108 of this Constitution, shall be introduced in parliament unless –
(b) it has been published in the Gazzette at least fourteen days before the date of its introduction in Parliament.
(4) Whenever a bill is read the first time in Parliament, it shall be referred to the appropriate committee appointed under article 103 of this Constitution which shall examine the bill in detail and make all such inquiries in relation to it as the committee considers expedient or necessary.
(5) Where a bill has been deliberated upon by the appropriate committee, it shall be reported to Parliament.
(6) The report of the committee, together with the explanatory memorandum to the bill, shall form the basis for a full debate on the bill for its passage, with or without amendments, or its rejection, by Parliament.
(7) Where a bill passed by Parliament is presented to the President for assent he shall signify, within seven days after the refuses to assent to the bill, unless the bill has been referred by the President to the Council of State under article 90 of this Constitution.
(8) Where the President refuses to assent to a bill, he shall, within fourteen days after the refusal –
(b) inform the Speaker that he has referred the bill to the Council of State for consideration and comment under article 90 of this Constitution.
(10) Where a bill reconsidered under clause (9) of this article is passed by Parliament by a resolution supported by the votes of not less than two-thirds of all the members of Parliament, the President shall assent to it within thirty days after passing of the resolution.
(11) Without prejudice to the power of Parliament to postpone the operation of a law, a bill shall not become law until it has been duly passed and assented to in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution and shall not come into force unless it has been published in theGazette.
(12) The provisions of clauses (7) to (10) of this article shall not apply to a bill certified by the Speaker as a bill to which the provisions of article 108 of this Constitution apply; and accordingly, the President shall give his assent to any such bill when presented for assent.
(13) Where it is determined by a committee of Parliament appointed for the purpose that a particular bill is of an urgent nature, the provisions of the preceding clauses of this article, other than clause (1) and paragraph (a) of clause (2) shall not apply, and accordingly, the President shall give his assent to the bill on its presentation for assent.
(14) A bill introduced in Parliament by or on behalf of the President shall not be delayed for more than three months in any committee of Parliament.
(b) which operates retrospectively to impose any limitations on, or to adversely affect the personal rights and liberties of any person or to impose a burden, obligation or liability on any person except in the case of a law enacted under articles 178 0r 182 of this Constitution.
(ii) the imposition of a charge on the Consolidated Fund or other public funds of Ghana or the alteration of any such charge otherwise than by reduction; or
(iii) the payment, issue or withdrawal from the Consolidated Fund or other public funds of Ghana of any moneys not charged on the Consolidated Fund or any increase in the amount of that payment, issue or withdrawal; or
(iv) the composition or remission of any debt due to the Government of Ghana; or
(2) The affairs of an organisation referred to in clause (1) of this article shall be conducted on democratic lines.
(2) Parliament may act notwithstanding a vacancy in its membership, including a vacancy not filled when Parliament first meets after a dissolution of Parliament; and the presence or the participation of a person not entitled to be present or to participate in the proceedings of Parliament shall not invalidate these proceedings.
Summoning, Dissolution, etc.
(2) A session of Parliament shall be held at least once a year, so that the period between the last sitting of Parliament in one session and the first sitting of Parliament in the next session does not amount to twelve months.
(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of this article fifteen percent of members of Parliament may request a meeting of Parliament; and the Speaker shall, within seven days after the receipt of the request, summon Parliament.
(4) Subject to clause (2) of article 113 of this Constitution, a general election of members of Parliament shall be held within thirty days before the expiration of the period specified in clause (1) of that article; and a session of Parliament shall be appointed to commence within fourteen days after the expiration of that period.
(5) Whenever a vacancy occurs in Parliament, the Clerk to Parliament shall notify the Electoral commission in writing within seven days after the vacancy occurred, and a by-election shall be held within thirty days after the vacancy occurred.
(6) Notwithstanding clause (5) of this article, a by-election shall not be held within three months before the holding of a general election.
(2) At any time when Ghana is actually engaged in war, Parliament may, from time to time by resolution supported by the votes of not less than two-thirds of all the members of Parliament, extend the period of four years specified in clause (1) of this article for not more than twelve months at a time, except that the life of Parliament shall not be extended under this clause for more than four years.
(3) Where, after a dissolution of Parliament but before the holding of a general election, the President is satisfied that owing to the existence of a state of war or of a state of public emergency in Ghana or any part of Ghana, it is necessary to recall Parliament, the President shall cause to be summoned the Parliament that has been dissolved to meet.
(4) Unless the life of Parliament is extended under the provisions of clause (2) of this article, the general election of members of Parliament shall proceed and the Parliament that has been recalled shall, if not sooner dissolved, again stand dissolved on the date appointed for the general election.
(2) For the purpose of clause (1) of this article, the period of four years specified in that clause shall be interpreted to mean four continuous years, and accordingly, any period when the member is out of office as a member, otherwise than by dissolution of Parliament, shall not be taken into account.
Privileges and Immunities
(2) Whenever in the opinion of the person presiding in Parliament a statement made by a member is prima facie defamatory of any person, the person presiding shall refer the matter for inquiry to the Parliamentary committee on privileges which shall report its findings to Parliament not later than thirty days after the matter was referred to it.
(3) Where the committee referred to in clause (2) of this article reports to parliament that the statement made by the member is defamatory of any person, the member who made the statement shall, within seven days after that report, render an apology at the bar of Parliament committee on privileges and communicated to the person who has been defamed.
(4) Where a member refuses to render an apology in accordance with clause (3) of this article, the Speaker shall suspend that member for the duration of the session of parliament in which the defamatory statement was made and a member so suspended shall lose his parliamentary privileges, immunities and remuneration, but they shall be restored to him if, at any time before the end of the session, he renders the apology as required by clause (3) of this article.
(5) A person who has made a contemporaneous report of the proceedings in Parliament, including a statement which has been the subject of an inquiry under clause (2) of this article, shall publish the apology referred to in clause (3) of this article or the suspension or the apology referred to in clause (4) of this article with the same prominence as he published the first report.
(6) If a person fails to publish the apology as required by clause (5) of this article, he shall not be protected by privilege.
(2) The certificate of the Speaker that a member or the Clerk is attending the proceedings of Parliament is conclusive evidence of attendance at Parliament.
(b) a contemporaneous report of the proceedings of Parliament;
(2) A public officer shall not be required to produce before Parliament a document where –
(ii) that disclosure of the contents of the document will be injurious to the public interest; or
(ii) that disclosure of the contents of the document will be prejudicial to the security of the State.
(4) An answer by a person to a question put by Parliament shall not be admissible in evidence against him in any civil or criminal proceedings out of Parliament, except proceedings for perjury brought under the criminal law.
Contempt of Parliament
The Parliamentary Service
(2) There shall be a Parliamentary Service Board which shall consist of –
(b) four other members all of whom shall be appointed by the Speaker, acting in accordance with the advice of a committee of Parliament; and
(c) the Clerk to Parliament.
(4) The appointment of the Clerk and the other members of his staff in the Parliamentary Service shall be made by the parliamentary Service Board in consultation with the Public Services Commission.
(5) The Parliamentary Service Board shall, with the prior approval of Parliament, make regulations, by constitutional instrument, prescribing the terms and conditions of service of the officers and other employees in the Parliamentary Service and generally for the effective and efficient administration of the Parliamentary Service.
