Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has revealed plans by Parliament to seek legal interpretation over President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s decision not to sign some bills passed by the parliament.especially his refusal to sign the Witchcraft and Armed forces Bills
Last year, President Akufo-Addo declined to sign the Criminal Offenses Bill of 2022, the Witchcraft Bill, and the Armed Forces Bill of 2023.He attributed his refusal to assent to the bills to its financial implications.
In particular, President Akufo-Addo pointed to the financial burdens associated with replacing the death penalty with life imprisonment in the Ghana Armed Forces Amendment Bill, sponsored by MP Francis-Xavier Sosu.
The Speaker of Parliament is strongly challenging this decision.In an official response to the President’s decision not to give assent to the bills, the Speaker of Parliament asserted that the President’s actions were unconstitutional and would be contested in the Supreme Court
“I want to end up by assuring you that I will definitely be in touch with my good friend the president, his excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo even though I disagree with him in his refusal to assent to our bills and I have given notice that we will be in court about this matter,” he said.
The Speaker spoke further, “The determination of any unconstitutionality is the sole purview of the Supreme Court, not the President. Hence, if there were concerns about Parliament acting beyond its constitutional authority, i.e., acting ultra vires, the appropriate course of action would be an action before the Supreme Court, not an executive declaration of unconstitutionality.”
“Again, the constitutional discretion vested in the presiding officer of Parliament, as per Article 108 and subject to Article 296, suggests that any allegations of misuse of this discretion should be contested in a court of competent jurisdiction, rather than being pre-emptively adjudicated upon by the President.”
