Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin has accused the judges and President Akufo-Addo of compromising the Constitution by preventing the Anti-LGBTQ Bill from passing.
Parliament passed the bill, which is currently awaiting the president’s approval.
Mr. Bagbin asserts that the president’s purported rejection of the bill and the judiciary’s approval and handling of issues pertaining to it created a troubling precedent in Ghana’s democratic history.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, November 6, 2024, Speaker Bagbin bemoaned the growing trend of stakeholders, including lawmakers, using the Supreme Court to settle legislative disputes.
He maintained that such behaviour jeopardises the House’s integrity.
“Most worrying is that these proceedings are initiated by some members of Parliament, even leaders of Parliament, who ought to know better,” Bagbin said, emphasizing that MPs should show loyalty to Parliament rather than the Supreme Court.
“Parliamentarians who are to be loyal to Parliament rather than to the Supreme Court run to the Supreme Court at the slightest opportunity to use it to undermine Parliament,” he said, adding that this tendency might be why Parliament “is not respected and treated with disdain.”
Mr Bagbin specifically took issue with the judiciary’s role in processing suits on the LGBTQ Bill, which he claimed the President also refused to receive.
“The President’s refusal to even receive the LGBTQ+ Bill duly processed and passed by Parliament without any legal basis, and the judiciary’s support by processing a suit on this subject matter, are dangerous precedents,” Mr Bagbin stated.
He believes that the judiciary and the president “have sinned against the Constitution” and ought to “confess and repent” for their perceived disrespect for Ghana’s democratic procedures.
Source: myjoyonline.com