“Unanimous FC” Supreme Court Usurps Parliament -Says A Presiding Deputy Speaker Can Vote on Parliamentary Motions

In an inexplicable ruling, the Supreme Court has usurped the power of the Ghanaian legislature by pronouncing that a Deputy Speaker presiding over a motion in the lawmaking chamber can choose to be biased by also voting in a motion on the table.

The Court presided over by Justice Jones Dotse, ruled that a Deputy Speaker of Parliament can be counted during the formation of a quorum for parliamentary decision-making and can participate in voting while presiding over the same motion.

Private Legal Practitioner Justice Abdulai had filed the case against the Attorney General following a recent “coup d’etat” staged by the Deputy Speaker, Joe Osei Owusu (Joe Wise) against the substantive Speaker Alban Sumana Bagbin in the latter’s absence over the 2022 national budget.

Joe Osei Owusu had presided and voted in a motion that overruled an earlier decision by Parliament to put on hold the approval of the 2022 budget due to its incendiary content.

However, when an ill Speaker Bagbin travelled to Dubai to attend to his health, however, in the absence of the Speaker, Joe Wise had convened the House with only MPs from the ruling party to overturn that earlier decision of Parliament.

During the voting, Joe Wise who was supposed to be a neutral left his seat and voted for the motion. During that session, the ruling party reportedly smuggled in an impersonator to vote for the Dome Kwabenya Member of Parliament, Sarah Adwoa Sarfo, who was away in the United States at the time and had refused to return, even when the Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Opare had bribed her with over GHC 1 million in pocket money and charter of a private jet from the US.

The untidiness of the process had forced Justice Abdulai to go to the Supreme Court to seek an interpretation of Articles 102 and 104 of the 1992 Constitution and for a declaration that the action of Mr. Osei Owusu was unconstitutional.

Abdulai also wanted the Supreme Court to declare the whole proceedings in Parliament on November 30, 2021, which led to the passage of the 2022 budget as unconstitutional, insisting the Deputy Speaker should not have counted himself as an MP when he presided over proceedings.

But, in what will further reinforce the existing suspicion that the apex court of Ghana has been compromised by partisan judges appointed by President Akufo Addo to do his bidding, the Supreme Court pronouncement on the case rather favoured Joe Wise.

In his argument in defence on behalf of the state, the Attorney-General (A-G), Godfred Yeboah Dame, claimed there were no express provisions in the 1992 Constitution that stops a Deputy Speaker presiding over proceedings from voting or counting himself as part of MPs present to form the right quorum.

He argued that the quorum in Parliament formed under Article 102 is different from the quorum formed under Article 104 of the 1992 Constitution.

He stated that the quorum under Article 102 is for the conduct of business in Parliament, and that is why Article 102 provides that it should be one-third of members.