The Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament, Rt. Honorable Kingsford Alban Bagbin, addressed the media Wednesday regarding the controversy surrounding four parliamentary seats, reassuring them that democracy remains strong.
The Speaker assured the people of Ghana that the House is live and at work amidst the determination of the suit Afenyo Markins v. Speaker of Parliament and Attorney General. He added that it is the democracy that the people of Ghana adopted as enshrined in the constitution 1992 that has been triggered as envisaged by the rule of law that democracy affords.
In this light, he stated that there is no constitutional crisis going on in the country. This is because democracy recognizes disagreements and challenges of such nature, and the system itself also puts in place mechanisms, structures, institutions, rules, and procedures to resolve the disagreements and converts challenges into opportunities to provide a solution.
Notwithstanding the work in progress of the House, the speaker revealed that the House was adjourned indefinitely due to lack of quorum required for parliamentary business, which resulted from a walkout of members of the New Patriotic Party present due to a disagreement.
On what caused the disagreements, the Speaker shed lights on the fact that it resulted from his pronouncement made on October 17 after his inquiry into statements made by Honorable Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, Minority leader of the National Democratic Congress caucus. This triggered the Honorable Afenyo Markin to advance his earlier action at the Supreme Court due to his disagreements with the pronouncements and preventing him in his capacity as the speaker from making any pronouncement on the statements made by Honorable Ato Forson until the final determination of the suit.
The Speaker said, “why many legal arguments have been advanced in and out of the court, I recognize the fact that connected political and governance implications have not been addressed sufficiently to enrich the national discourse. It is my considered view that this should also be vigorously articulated to give a holistic approach to resolving the issue.”
He added that this current state is akin to a power play between the three arms of government, which has a potential to undermine the country’s democracy and the authority of parliament and to subvert the constitutional order for which Ghanaians have toiled and sacrificed. Also, it is increasingly becoming clear that the judiciary and the executive are seemingly colluding to weaken parliament. The Parliament he defines to be a consensual and collaborative governance decided by the people of Ghana per the outcome of the 2022 presidential and parliamentary elections.
Concluding his speech, the Speaker stated that he is confident that the battle which is being fought today will make the country’s democracy stronger and more vibrant in the future.
