Some Members of Parliament have challenged Speaker Alban Bagbin’s threat to publish names of legislators who tested positive for Covid-19 but have refused to stay home and isolate during treatment and still coming to work daily.
This comes after the Speaker, in a statement read on his behalf by the first deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei Owusu threatened to take action against people who tested positive but still come into the Chamber.
The Speaker indicated that should the MPs fail to “withdraw from the precinct of Parliament” by next week, he will be forced to name them for everyone to know their Covid-19 status.
But reacting to this threat, some Parliamentarians argued that the Speaker does not have the right to publish the confidential medical reports of MPs.
Speaking to JoyNews’ Elton Brobbey, MP for South Dayi, Rockson Dafeamekpor said although the Speaker has the test result of all legislators, it will be imprudent for him to openly declare names of MPs who have tested positive for the coronavirus.
“The leadership has the list so they know those who are positive and those who are negative, but I am not in favour because these are medical matters and must be confidential,” he said.
The MP for Sekondi, Andrew Egyapa Mercer also shared the same view as Dafeamekpor:
“I don’t have the result for the second testing that we have done in Parliament because I guess that the protocol with respect to the test that we do in Parliament is that, only those who test positive are contacted and they proceed to take the necessary steps relating to isolating and subsequent treatment if need be,” he said.
