Member of Parliament for Akim Swedru, Kennedy Nyarko Osei, has sharply criticised musician-turned-politician Kwame Asare Obeng, popularly known as A Plus, over his petition to the Speaker of Parliament seeking the removal of Abena Osei-Asare as Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
In a social media post, Mr. Osei described A Plus’s petition as “dead on arrival,” insisting that the Speaker of Parliament has no constitutional or procedural authority to remove any Member of Parliament from a committee.
“My colleague A Plus should take his time to learn the parliamentary rules and procedures properly. He should know and understand that the Speaker has no powers to remove any member of parliament from any committee — not even the Leader of Government Business in the House has such powers,” the Akim Swedru MP wrote.
Mr. Osei further advised A Plus to invoke the appropriate standing orders if he believes that Hon. Osei-Asare has acted in an unparliamentary manner, rather than making what he called “political bravado.”
“If he thinks the Hon. Member has done anything unparliamentary, he should invoke the appropriate sections of the Standing Orders against her, but calling on the Speaker to remove her from the Public Accounts Committee is just political bravado,” he added.
A Plus, who represents Gomoa Central, had petitioned the Speaker to remove Abena Osei-Asare, citing conflict of interest concerns due to her previous role as Deputy Minister of Finance under former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.
He argued that her past involvement in controversial contracts, including those under investigation by the Office of the Special Prosecutor, undermines her impartiality as PAC Chair.
However, Kennedy Nyarko Osei’s rebuttal adds a new twist to the matter, highlighting the procedural limits of the Speaker’s powers and defending parliamentary independence from what he sees as politically motivated petitions.
It remains unclear whether the petition has officially reached the Speaker’s office.
