The Member of Parliament for Kumawu, Ernest Yaw Anim, has rejected portions of a new parliamentary attendance report that ranked him among the most absent legislators during the first session of 2025.
The report, which covered 43 sittings between January and March 2025, placed Mr. Anim third on the list with 21 recorded absences. However, he maintains that the figures are inaccurate and do not reflect his true attendance record.
Speaking to Citi News on Sunday, November 2, Mr. Anim explained that part of the confusion stems from a mix-up between his name and that of the late Ernest Yaw Kumi, who at the time was involved in a legal battle over the Akwatia parliamentary seat.
“I think in situations where I had questions bothering my constituency and it had been captured in the Hansard as Ernest Yaw Kumi, there is clearly so much confusion around the two names — Ernest Yaw Anim and Ernest Yaw Kumi,” he said.
“Although my brother is late now, I cannot really go into it, but if we check the records, we will see that some absences assigned to Honourable Kumi have been wrongly attributed to me.”
The Kumawu MP also noted that his brief absence from Parliament following his father’s death may have been misconstrued as prolonged absenteeism.
“I can recall that within the period your report captured for the first meeting of Parliament, I was bereaved. I lost my dad, but I can barely count the number of days I was absent due to the funeral activities — it wouldn’t be more than four days,” he explained.
Mr. Anim further clarified that some of his recorded absences were periods when he was outside the country on official parliamentary duties.
“In my capacity as Chair of the Human Rights Committee, there have been several instances where I’ve been outside the country working for Parliament, not for myself,” he said. “These are issues that publications like this must take into account. Anyone who reads the report as it stands may think I deliberately avoided sittings, which is not the case.”
He has therefore urged Parliament to review its attendance records and improve coordination between the Hansard Department and Members of Parliament to prevent similar errors in future reports.
Meanwhile, the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has directed parliamentary clerks to strengthen attendance monitoring and warned that persistent absenteeism could attract sanctions, including possible loss of seat, in line with parliamentary rules.
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