All Eyes on Bagbin to Defend Supreme Court’s Coup d’état Against Parliament

Following the Supreme Court’s meddlesome ruling on Thursday ordered that a Deputy Speaker who presides on sittings in the absence of the Speaker can vote, many Ghanaians are looking to the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Bagbin to rebuff the overreaching judiciary interference.

This is certain to set off an unnecessary showdown between the judiciary and the legislature, amidst fears of military adventurism taking advantage of the breakdown in Ghana’s governance structure, as has been recently experienced in the West African sub-region.

On social media, there are clarion calls on Bagbin to snob the ruling which fundamentally seeks to tell Parliament how to go about its affairs.

There are calls on the Speaker to preside on a special session and assert Parliament’s authority by telling the Supreme Court bench which gave the ruling that the legislature is not made up of morons whose procedures need to be telegraphed by the Judiciary.

On Thursday the Supreme Court set itself up for criticism when in a unanimous ruling, a seven-member panel led by Justice Jones Dotse, upheld arguments by NPP MP for Bekwai and 1st Deputy Speaker, Joe Osei Wusu that he could preside as the Speaker of Parliament and vote at the same time.

Joe Osei Wusu’s behavior had contravened order 109 (3) of the Standing Orders of Parliament, which makes it clear that the Speaker has no vote.

This being the case, it was expected that the Supreme Court would wash its hands off the case and allow the legislative arm of government to determine its own internal issues in the interest of the separation of powers.

But the Supreme Court went ahead to determine the case declaring order 109 (2) of Parliament’s Standing Orders as unconstitutional.

In addition to it being tantamount to the Judiciary overreaching into the internal affairs of the legislature, the ruling also vandalized a precedent that the Judiciary itself set through a case – “Tuffuor V. Attorney General” – of 1980.

In that case, which arose after Parliament had refused to approve a Chief Justice nominee, the Supreme Court at the time had said it would not meddle in the internal affairs of the legislature but would only take judicial notice.

Many Ghanaians are calling on the Speaker of Parliament to arise and defend the rule of proper law by snubbing the overreaching ruling of the current Supreme Court.

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