Speaker, Attorney General dragged to court over Anti-LGBTQ+ bill and its fiscal impact

A private citizen, Paul Boama Sefa, has dragged the Speaker of Parliament and the Attorney General to the High Court.

He is alleging that the two have breached portions of Ghana’s constitution regarding how the legislative body handled the Human Rights and Family Values Bill, 2021.

He says despite the law having financial implications for the consolidated fund, it was not handed to parliament with a fiscal impact analysis document.

Parliament’s Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee has already urged the House to pass the bill into law.

But it appears this may suffer some setbacks. The individual behind this action describes himself as a farmer and a private citizen based in the Ashanti Region.

Paul says the Speaker of Parliament has the mandate to ensure that all legislative processes are undertaken in accordance with the law.

He says the Public Financial Management Act requires that any bill to be laid in parliament should be accompanied by a fiscal impact analysis. He claims the Human Rights and Family Values Bill does not have this attached to it

Paul made reference to the Attorney General’s memo to Parliament where he makes this same point about the lack of a fiscal impact analysis.

Substantively, the plaintiff wants the court to restrain the speaker, his deputies etc from proceeding with any processes regarding the bill until this is complied with.

The Committee earlier addressed the AG’s concern in its final report to Parliament.

The individual made reference to this noting that portions of the bill impose a charge on the consolidated fund.

The Committee said it, however, noted through the amendments it was proposing, this will be taken care of.