What Ghana’s law says about filling Parliamentary vacancies

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Introduction

Ghana’s 9th Parliament has suffered two significant losses since its inauguration on January 7, 2025, barely eight months after the December 7, 2024, General Election. 

The then-ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), which lost the presidential election, also saw its parliamentary strength shrink from 137 lawmakers to 88 – a net loss of 49 seats.

Meanwhile, the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), buoyed by the country’s economic challenges, won the presidency with John Dramani Mahama and secured 184 out of the 276 parliamentary seats, giving it a comfortable majority.

Death of two Ghanaian lawmakers within the 2025 3^rd Quarter

The third quarter of 2025 has been particularly tragic for Parliament, with the deaths of two sitting MPs, forcing the country into two by-elections in less than a year.

On July 7, 2025, Ernest Yaw Kumi, the 41-year-old MP for Akwatia, died suddenly of suspected cardiac arrest. A first-time legislator, he was among the 88 NPP MPs in the current Parliament. 

The Electoral Commission has scheduled a by-election for September 2, 2025, with the NPP and NDC fielding candidates.

Less than a month later, tragedy struck again on August 6, 2025. Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed, MP for Tamale Central and Minister for Environment, Science and Technology, died in a military helicopter crash in the Ashanti Region alongside eight others. They included Defence Minister Dr. Edward Omane-Boamah, Deputy National Security Coordinator Alhaji Muniru Mohammed, former Minister Dr. Samuel Sarpong, politician Samuel Aboagye, and three members of the Ghana Armed Forces.

Although the Electoral Commission has yet to set the date for the Tamale Central by-election, the NPP has already announced its withdrawal.

What Ghana’s 1992 Constitution says about vacancies in Parliament

Article 97 of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution lists the circumstances under which a parliamentary seat becomes vacant. These include:

• If the MP is elected Speaker of Parliament.
• If the MP is absent for fifteen sitting days without written permission from the Speaker.
• If the MP resigns or crosses the floor to another party.
• If the MP is found guilty of an offence punishable by death or imprisonment for at least ten years.
• If the MP is expelled from Parliament for contempt.
• If any circumstances arise that would disqualify him if he were not an MP.
• And, as in the current cases, if the MP dies in office.

Article 112(5) further mandates that:

“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.”

However, Article 112(6) makes an exception: no by-election shall be held within three months before a general election.

Whose duty is it to declare a vacancy in Ghana’s Parliament?

The issue of which institution has the authority to declare a parliamentary seat vacant became controversial in late 2024. 

The then-Speaker Alban Bagbin declared four seats vacant after their occupants filed to contest the elections as independent candidates. However, the Supreme Court overturned his decision after then-Majority Leader (now Minority Leader) Alexander Afenyo-Markin challenged it. Mr Bagbin is currently heading the 9th Parliament.

Under Article 99(1), the High Court is empowered to determine the validity of a parliamentary election and whether a seat has become vacant. This provision generally applies to contentious vacancies, such as when an MP resigns from their party or caucus.

The process is more straightforward in non-contentious cases, such as death. Parliament, through the Clerk, must notify the Electoral Commission within seven days to organise a by-election.

Conclusion

It has now been 21 days since the tragic death of Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed. What remains unclear is whether the Clerk to Parliament has formally notified the Electoral Commission of the vacancy, as required by law, to pave the way for a by-election in Tamale Central.