Minority Chief Whip proposes biometric registration in Parliament to check absenteeism

Following concerns of consistent low attendance recorded in Parliament in recent times, making it difficult for parliamentary business to be conducted, the Minority Chief Whip, Mubarak Mohammed Muntaka, is proposing the installation of a biometric registration system.

He said this following the failure of MPs to show up in the house on March 10, 2022, causing the adjournment of proceedings due to lack of quorum.

Before the adjournment of the proceedings, 41 members were present, yet, over 100 people were captured in the Votes and Proceedings document.

Speaking on the floor of the House, Muntaka said; “The best way to deal with this issue is to have a biometric registration [system so that you register] as you enter the Chamber. I don’t know how difficult this is that we are not doing it.”

Muntaka who is also the MP for Asawase, complained that: “Some people come into the Chamber but are marked absent, and those who do not come are rather marked present. For instance, yesterday, I saw both the Majority and Minority leaders in the Chamber, yet, they were marked absent.”

He further suggested that investigations should be done into finding those who were absent yet had their names marked present in the documents.

“We all need to take our work seriously. Mr Speaker, we sincerely have to find out those who have made it their business to contract people to write their names even when they are not here. Mr Speaker, we may have to charge the Clerk [of Parliament] to devise means to detect these people. I don’t want to believe it is we, the members ourselves, doing this, else it would be a shame on our part.”

“Mr Speaker, I think the best way is to do the biometric registration; that way, when you come, your bio and mine are different. There’s no way ambiguity can arise.”

Successive Speakers of Parliament have, on several occasions, rebuked MPs for refusing to be in Parliament. Despite several complaints, absenteeism in the House remains the same.

The last couple of weeks have seen a lot of absenteeism in Parliament.

The likes of the Member of Parliament for Dome-Kwabenya, Sarah Adjoa Safo, have reportedly been absent for more than 15 times.