The First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joseph Osei Owusu has raised concern over the appearance of the names of some absentee Members of Parliament in the House’s attendance book.

It was discovered on Thursday, July 2, that some MPs who were not in the House had their names in the votes and proceedings.

This according to the First Deputy Speaker indicated that some MPs present had been signing in for the absentees, a practice he was not happy about.

“The real issue here is who has been marking those absent present. Is it the table office because every member has to sign in to indicate that he or she is a present? Is somebody signing in on their behalf? In that case, those persons are the ones we must be looking out for,” Mr Osei Owusu said.

He demanded a probe into the matter to find out which MPs had been signing for the absentees.

“The table office goes round and those who don’t go in behind, they bring the register for you to sign. So if indeed those people were not present, then who marked them present? I think we must investigate who has been marking those absent present,” he added.

His concern follows the suspension of sitting in the House several times by the Speaker, Prof. Mike Ocquaye over low turnout of MPs, who he believes are beginning to take their duties as legislators lightly.