Mr Haruna Iddrisu, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamale South, Tuesday said President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s letter to the Clerk of Parliament, directing him to refrain from submitting the Anti-LGBTQ Bill to the Presidency for assent, is in bad taste.
A letter signed by Nana Asante Bediatuo, the Secretary to the President, dated 18th March, 2024, addressed to the Clerk of Parliament, attributed the President’s decision to two pending court cases on the Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values (anti-LGBTQ) Bill passed by the House.
However, Mr Iddrisu, in his address to the Parliamentary Press Corps, said the letter was a threat to Parliament and Ghana’s democracy.
‘I am unable to sleep. And I am unable to sleep because this is a monumental threat to Ghana’s democracy and to Parliament as an institution,’ he said.
‘By Article 93, we are clothed with legislative authority and legislative mandate,’ he said.
‘This letter only reflects the President’s quest for predominance over other organs
of state and that is unacceptable, and that must be fought by all persons who love democracy and who cherish the principles and values of the 1992 Constitution.’
The MP said the framers of the 1992 Constitution endowed Ghana with the separation of powers; the Executive, the Legislature, the Judiciary, and clothed Parliament with the responsibility to make laws.
‘First of all, what powers does the President’s Secretary have in writing to the Clerk of Parliament and not President Akufo-Addo himself writing directly to the Speaker of Parliament as is required by our Standing Orders, so that officially this can be read as communication from the President,’ he said.
‘So, ideally, this paper means nothing and must be ignored by the Clerk, because communication to Parliament must be communication signed by the President and addressed to the Speaker of Parliament as is required by our Standing Orders, whether old or new.’
‘Yes, there is a matter before court, but I am also a trained lawyer, an attempt to seek an
injunction is not the same thing as an injunction.’
He said seeking an injunction did not operate the same way as an injunction that had been so granted by a court, even if it was an interlocutory injunction.
The Tamale lawmaker said more importantly, Parliament could not be injuncted from performing its lawful function as the Legislature of Ghana, clothed under Article 93 (of the 1992 Constitution) responsible for legislation.
Mr Iddrisu, who is the immediate past Minority Leader, said the Judiciary, the Executive, as well as the Legislature were all subject to the Constitution of the country.
‘So, it is for a good reason that all of them, the Constitution says subject to the Constitution. The legislative authority is vested in the Parliament of Ghana as in Article 106,’ he said.
‘The President cannot by any shred or shadow of authority seek to injunct Parliament from exercising our lawful duty and responsibility as the House responsibility for law making. Neither can the court injunct Parliament not to
perform our duties as Parliament.’
Mr Iddrisu said the Court under Article 2 of the Constitution could declare a nullity or a void to the extent that Parliament had passed a law, which was inconsistent with the Constitution.
Source: Ghana News Agency