Speaker Bagbin yesterday addresses the media to explain current happenings in Parliament to the good people of Ghana. This has become necessary because he informed the house that 4-seats have become vacant due to the fact that occupants of the 4-seats have deserted the party that brought them to parliament and now contesting as independent candidates or on the ticket of another political party.
After the announcement, the Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin runs to the Supreme Court seeking to keep the 4 members in the house so that his majority leadership status will not be severed. This generated a lot of controversy with the Vice President and NPP’s flag bearer declaring this is the shortest majority in history. Other NPP bigwigs made several unsavoury comments about the Speaker.
A Speaker worthed his salt decided to adjourn parliament sine die for further dialogue so that the inevitable truth, which is the Speaker’s announcement, will be implemented. The NPP knowing this inevitable truth is running on the back of the Supreme Court to help them maintain their lost majority status and the court is doing exactly that.
The Rt. Hon. Bagbin is not the kind to be cowed and both the president and the judiciary must have known this. The 4 have vacated their seats in accordance with article 97(1) g and h of the 1992 Constitution. The speaker has announced that his loyalty is to the supremacy of the constitution and not the supremacy of the supreme court and brains against good governance must listen well. The Speaker is trusted to stand his grounds and he will not relent.
The posture of the executive and the judiciary is not promoting transparency, accountability and justice. Their actions also significantly undermines the works of parliament and the speaker is worried. He called them out saying both the president and the judiciary “have sinned against the Constitution” and should seek to “confess and repent to be forgiven.”
Backing his declarations above, the speaker questioned why the courts will be swift in denying the people of Assin North and Santrokofi, Akpafu, Lipke and Lolobi (SALL) the right to representation in parliament but unwilling to let go 4 members who willingly vacated their seats for just 12 weeks because their constituents cannot do without representation. Clearly this kind of reasoning in unconscionable and inconsistent.
The only reason why the Supreme Court thinks the constituents of Assin North and SALL are not citizens enough to be worthy of representation is because the two seats are or will be occupied by the opposition NDC and offering them a representation will deny judiciary’s darling boy, the NPP majority status.
There are several other instances that show the judiciary is in unmeasurable romance with the executive including the the 2022 budget and E-levy case, Domelovo case, Cecilia Dapaah $1million case and Proper Human Sexual Rights and Families Values Bill Case which many people called the LGBTQI+ case. In all of these, the conduct of the judiciary has shown clear bias in favour of the executive.
The appointments into the judiciary is also questionable. NPP sympathizers and card bearing members are finding space into the bench and one such is Justice Ernest Yao Gaewu, a former NPP Parliamentary Candidate for Ho Central. Certainly, he cannot be fair in a matter where the NPP have huge interest.
No wonder the recent Afrobarometer report reveals that 64 percent of Ghanaians say they do not trust the judiciary. This means majority of Ghanaians believe they will not get justice from the courts and this must concern all of us.
We must applaud the speaker for resisting the President’s attempt to remote control parliament as currently done to the judiciary. He is very strict in his dealings and it is not surprising that he sometimes go loggerheads with some members of his own party members.
The courts must emulate the strong character, competence, wisdom and fairness Bagbin has demonstrated in the August House so far. The courts must not not be seen in thwarting the efforts of the Speaker in instilling good governance in our democracy.
Source: Taluta Gbanha Mahama| Contributor| Sissala West District
