Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin and former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu
Former Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Martin Amidu, has called on the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, to accept the ruling of the Supreme Court directing him to stay his declaration of four seats in the House vacant.
Martin Amidu, in an editorial copied to GhanaWeb, pointed out that Bagbin has no choice but to obey the Supreme Court because the 1992 Constitution of Ghana mandates him to obey the apex court of the land.
He went on to state that the ruling of the court, reaffirmed on Wednesday, October 30, 2024, means that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Members of Parliament have regained their Majority Caucus status, and their leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, is now the Majority Leader.
“The Speaker of Parliament is enjoined under the 1992 Constitution to obey and enforce the decisions and orders of the Supreme Court following the Court’s unanimous dismissal of his application on October 30, 2024, to set aside the processes and proceedings in the suit brought by Alexander Afenyo-Markin (the Majority Leader) against him and the Attorney-General, and further to vacate the orders of the Court dated October 18, 2024, staying the execution of the ruling of the Speaker of Parliament dated October 17, 2024, declaring vacant the seats of four named Members of Parliament pending the final determination of the suit, as unmeritorious.
“The Supreme Court has, by its decision dismissing the Speaker’s application, thrown out all the jurisdictional objections raised by the Speaker to the competence of the Supreme Court to hear the Writ and Statement of Case filed by the plaintiff against the defendants. The full reasons for the Court’s decision are to be filed in the registry of the Court by Friday, November 8, 2024. We can then temperately criticize or applaud the decision without scandalizing the Court,” he wrote.
Amidu, who is Ghana’s first Special Prosecutor, also indicated that the Speaker must show “maturity” in order to calm tension as the country nears the 2024 general election.
“Between now and December 7, 2024, it is imperative that everything is done by the legislature and the executive branch, particularly to lower political tensions and to ensure free, fair, and transparent elections instead of resorting to political party gamesmanship and point scoring which can be disastrous for the general wellbeing of the citizen and the survival of the 1992 Constitution from which all the arms of government derive their powers. The Speaker needs to show cognitive maturity now! Parliaments and Governments may come and go, but the Republic of Ghana shall always endure,” he noted.
About the ruling of the Supreme Court:
The apex court of Ghana threw out the application of the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, in the matter of the vacation of some four seats in Parliament.
Reading the ruling of the 5-member Supreme Court panel, Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo said that contrary to other assertions that it does not have jurisdiction over such a matter, it rather does.
She added that any person who does not comply with the order of the Supreme Court has committed a crime.
The CJ also said that the Supreme Court did no wrong in exercising its discretionary power in the matter before it.
She also indicated that the Speaker of Parliament’s interpretation of Article 97 was not just against four Members of Parliament, but tens of thousands of Ghanaians.
Bagbin’s lawyer has asked the Supreme Court to set aside “the processes and proceedings in the Supreme Court” that led to the directive of the 5-member panel of the court, chaired by Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, for him to stay his declaration of the seats vacant.
The lawyers also asked for the “vacating of the order of the Court dated October 18, 2024.”
See Martin Amidu’s full write-up plus videos from the Supreme Court hearing below:
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