The Supreme Court has issued a stay of execution on Speaker Alban Bagbin’s ruling, which declared four parliamentary seats vacant.
The apex court issued the stay of execution by a 5-0 decision and the panel was chaired by Chief Justice Getrude Torkonor.
It directed Parliament to recognise and allow the four MPs to fully represent their constituencies and carry out their official duties.
This directive will remain in place, not for the 10 days requested by the applicants, but until the Supreme Court rules on the issue.
Members of Parliament from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) submitted an application to suspend the Speaker’s judgement, requesting that the Court intervene to prevent the ruling from being enforced, which would have affected three of their colleagues and one from the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
The application was filed ex parte, which means that neither Speaker Bagbin nor Parliament were parties to the lawsuit.
The case was heard by a panel of Supreme Court justices presided over by Chief Justice Gertrude Torkonoo.
Other members of the panel included Justice Mariama Owusu, Justice Kwame Adibu Asiedu, Justice Ernest Yao Gaewu, and Justice Yaw Darko Asare, who together delivered the ruling to stay the Speaker’s decision.
Representing the NPP MPs were lawyers Paa Kwesi Abaidoo and former Attorney General Joe Ghartey.
Background
The Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament, Alban Bagbin, declared four seats vacant on Thursday, October 17, 2024.
He delivered the ruling on a motion filed by the opposition Member of Parliament seeking the Speaker to declare four seats vacant.
The opposition MPs believe the four affected MPs have breached Article 97(1)(g) and (h) of the 1992 Republican Constitution.
The seats are Amenfi Central, Suhum, Agona West, and Fomena.
Haruna Iddrisu’s petition targeted three New Patriotic Party (NPP) MPs and one NDC MP, invoking Article 97 (1)(g) of the Constitution.
The Speaker asserted that if Article 97(1)(g) of the 1992 Constitution was only to apply to a future parliament, then there would have been no need for it to exist since the MPs in question would have completed the term of the current parliament.
He indicated that the previous incident, where the former Speaker, Prof. Mike Oquaye, expelled the Fomena MP from the House after the NPP had informed him about his decision to go independent, was not binding on him or any other Speaker.
He said once the notice of polls had duly confirmed that the four MPs were going independent, they had no business remaining as MPs in the current parliament.
The Speaker in his ruling said, “Honourable members, it is important to point out that the speaker is called upon by the standing orders of parliament, particularly order 18, to inform the house of the occurrence of a vacancy in the seat of a member under clauses (1) b to e, g, and h of Article 97 of the constitution. Accordingly, I will proceed to inform the house that by the notification of the polls, the following MPs have, by their actions, vacated their seats in parliament.”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
