By: Yesmeen Abubakar Tetteh
The Speaker of Parliament, Rt Hon Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin has fired back at the presidency over a letter from the Secretary to the President, Nana Bediatuo Asante.
In a letter addressed to the clerk to parliament on Monday, March 18, 2024, Nana Bediatuo Asante, urged parliament to refrain from transmitting the recently passed Anti-LGBT+ Bill to the presidency for his approval.
The presidency cited two pending applications before the Supreme Court for an order of interlocutory injunction against the Bill.
He also revealed that the Attorney-General had informed President Akufo-Addo via a letter dated March 18, 2024, about the ongoing legal actions.
“It has come to the attention of this Office that while the President and other senior officials of the Presidency were at Peduase for a Cabinet Retreat on Thursday, March 14, 2024, you attempted to submit the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, 2024 (the “Bill”) to Jubilee House for the president to signify his assent or otherwise to the Bill.”
“This Office is aware of two pending applications for an order of interlocutory injunction, both filed on March 7, 2024, in the Supreme Court in Dr. Amanda Odoi v. The Speaker of Parliament and The Attorney-General (J1/13/2023) and Richard Sky v. The Parliament of Ghana and The Attorney-General (31/9/2024), respectively, to restrain you and Parliament from transmitting the Bill to the President and also to restrain the President from signifying his assent to the Bill, pending the final determination of the matter,” portions of the statement read.
But in what can be said to be a tit-for-tat, Speaker Bagbin has also frozen the approval of Ministerial nominees.
“Hon. Members in the light of this process, the House is unable to continue to consider the nominations of His Excellency the President in the “spirit of upholding the rule of law “ until after the determination of the application for interlocutory injunction by the Supreme Court,” the Speaker said.
