The Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin has in an unprecedented move put the vetting and approval of a list of ministers submitted to Parliament by President Nana Akufo-Addo citing an injunction filed by Hon. Nelson Dafeamekpor at the Supreme Court against the vetting and approval of the Ministers.
The Speaker explained that he has been duly served with the injunction motion seeking to restrain him from proceeding with the vetting and approval of the names of ministers-designate submitted to him and cannot therefore proceed with the processes.
The decision of the Speaker is seen as retaliation for the President’s rejection of the anti-gay bill submitted to him for his assent due to a pending suit at the Supreme Court.
The Speaker, on Wednesday, berated the Presidency for rejecting a bill submitted to him and seeking to direct Parliament on how to go about its business, using his Executive Secretary, vowing to follow the law rather than kowtow to the dictates of the Presidency.
“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!” He assured parliamentarians.
He then informed them of his decision to hold on with the vetting and approval of the Ministers of President Akufo-Addo.
“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.”
Even though the decision of the Speaker has been met with mixed reactions from the public, there appears to be the notion that the Presidency( the Executive) has pushed the Speaker into taking such a decision.
Mynewsgh.com
