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Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, has defferred approval of President Akufo-Addo’s Ministerial nominees.
The decision, according to the Speaker, is due to a legal action commenced at the Supreme Court by Member of Parliament for South Dayi, Rockson-Nelson Etse K. Dafeamekpor.
The MP among others, is asking the House not to sanction the Presidents’ recently announced nominees to the various Ministries.
It comes after the Presidency wrote to Parliament to desist from transmitting the Bill on Human Sexual Rights and Family Values for President Akufo-Addo’s assent.
According to the Presidency, their directives stem from the pending interlocutory application at the Supreme Court.
However, Alban Bagbin in response says the House cannot proceed with the approval of new ministers on similar grounds cited by the Office of the President.
“The Parliament of Ghana will comply with the existing legal framework and reject the attempts by the Executive Secretary of the President, through his contemptuous letter, to instruct the Clerk to Parliament, an Officer of Parliament whose position is recognizably under the Constitution. We shall not cease and desist!
“Be that as it may, Hon Members, I also bring to your attention, the receipt of a process from the Courts titled Rockson-Nelson Etse K. Dafeamekpor vrs. The Speaker of Parliament and the Attorney -General ( Suit no. J1/12/2024) which process was served on the 19th of March 2024 and an injunction motion on notice seeking to restrain the Speaker from proceeding with the vetting and approval of the names of the persons submitted by His Excellency the President until the provisions of the constitution are satisfied.
“Hon. Members in the light of this process, the House is unable to continue to consider the nominations of His Excellency the President in the “spirit of upholding the rule of law “until after the determination of the application for interlocutory injunction by the Supreme Court,” the Speaker said Wednesday, March 20, 2024.
He described President Akufo-Addo’s directive as a grave threat to Ghana’s democracy.
He said the “ongoing scenario poses a grave threat to our legislative authority and, by extension, the democratic principles we strive to uphold. The implications of such executive actions extend far beyond the immediate legislative items at hand. They erode the foundational checks and balances that our forebearers painstakingly established to ensure a vibrant and functioning democracy.”
