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Speaker Alban Bagbin’s move to halt the approval of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s recently nominated ministers has drawn criticism from Samuel Atta Akyea, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Abuakwa South. Akyea suggests that an apology would be fitting for the mistake.
The Speaker stated that Rockson-Nelson Etse K. Dafeamekpor, the MP for South Dayi, filed an interlocutory injunction at the Supreme Court, which resulted to the suspension.
Godfred Yeboah Dame, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, contended that Parliament may still approve applicants for ministerial and deputy minister positions.
He stressed that since Dafeamekpor’s action questioned the President’s right to remove and reassign ministers rather than the approval procedure for new nominees there was no risk to the authority of the Supreme Court if Parliament moved forward with the approval processes.
Atta Akyea, however, voiced concern about Bagbin’s choice and recommended that Bagbin issue an apology to stop additional disruptions to government operations brought on by his poor judgment.
He denounced Bagbin’s “fundamental errors” and said that in order to prevent unnecessarily stopping government operations, such errors should be addressed.
Atta Akyea said in a Citi News interview, “The speaker again does something which is very frightening. The speaker comes out to say that in equal measure as you are respecting the injunctive processes in the Supreme Court, I will also not attend to your nominees and aid you to have them passed for the simple reason that I also have an injunction at the instance of honourable Dafeamekpor pending before the Supreme Court.
“It turns out that that is not true. That is a very serious matter for the simple reason that at the level of intellectual evidence of the speaker, such fundamental errors cannot be committed.”
“I am of the humble opinion that when distinguished men see obvious mistakes on their part, they ought to yield and most likely apologize, saying, ‘I believe I was misled,'” he continued. … order to prevent the government’s operations from unnecessarily stopping due to a clear mistake made by the speaker.
“So, I believe that If I were Mr Speaker, I would eat humble pie and say that the foundation of my action is not valid. There is no injunction restraining the parliament from considering the nominees of the president. Because the Dafeamekpor case relates to a different matter altogether.”
The Parliamentary Minority Caucus has taken issue with the Majority’s claim that Speaker Alban Bagbin and them are impeding government operations.
The MPs for the National Democratic Congress said the Majority should stop blaming others and just reap what they sown.
Bagbin used an interlocutory injunction from South Dayi MP Rockson-Nelson Etse K. Dafeamekpor, which prohibits Parliament from approving new ministerial nominations, to block the approval process for the government’s most recent ministerial candidates.
This action was taken in response to a letter from the president advising against sending the anti-gay legislation to the president for ratification.
The majority has expressed disbelief at his choice, claiming that the president’s action does not diminish the power of the legislature.
The NPP MPs released a press statement on Wednesday, March 20, urging people to denounce Speaker Alban Bagbin’s conduct.
Source: Ghanatodayonline.com
