Full Text: Speech delivered by Speaker Bagbin at November 6 press conference

STATEMENT BY RT. HON. BAGBIN SPEAKER OF PARLIAMENT ON THE CONSEQUENCES OF LITIGATION ON PROCEEDINGS OF PARLIAMENT IN COURT

 

 

1. Beloved Ghanaians, democracy will work only if we fight for it, says President Barack Obama of the United States. I swore an oath to uphold, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana and that I will do right to all manner of persons in accordance with the Constitution and the laws and conventions of Parliament without fear or favour, affection or ill-will. I concluded the swearing of the oath with a call on God to help me. I am very confident and I have faith in God to see me through these dark days of Ghana and our young democracy.

 

2. Ladies and gentlemen, I want to start this presser by disabusing and setting the minds of Ghanaians at ease. There is no constitutional crisis in this country. I repeat, there is no constitutional crisis. The Parliament of Ghana is alive and working. Let nobody mislead, misinform, or disinform, you and the country. The democratic system we adopted and enacted, as captured in the Constitution, 1992, and fleshed out in various laws, processes, procedures and practices, is what has been triggered and it is working. Let us allow it to work.

 

3. Democracy is about the rule of law. Let the law work. The democratic system we adopted and enacted recognizes, in the course of operationalizing the system, disagreements will occur, and challenges and problems will arise. The system has put in place mechanisms, structures, and institutions, processes, procedures and rules to follow and apply to resolve the disagreement, convert the challenges into opportunities and provide solutions to the problems. This is what is being pursued and applied. There is no constitutional crisis in the country.

 

4. Beloved Ghanaians, I have served Parliament and the people of Ghana continuously for over 32 years as a politician and over 42 years as a public servant. I cherish the role Parliament plays in our democracy. And my mission is to leave Parliament a stronger institution than I met it.

 

 

5. Parliament is alive and working. It has not been dissolved, prorogued, prohibited, suspended or terminated. The plenary sitting and meetings of Parliament were adjourned indefinitely, due to lack of quorum to take decision created by a walk out staged by the NPP Members who were available, as a result of a disagreement. The cause of the disagreement which led to a disorder had to be resolved with time and engagement of many more leaders than those in Parliament. The adjournment was done by the lawful authority, the Speaker of Parliament. Let us stop pressing the panic buttons and fear mongering and allow the system to work. Anger and indecent language rather inflames the situation. There can be no democracy without patience, tolerance, discipline, collaboration, the love for one another and consensus building.

 

 

6. Ladies and gentlemen, one may ask, what led to this disagreement? Following a statement by Hon Dr. Cassiel Ato Baah Forson on a matter he considered to be of urgent public importance on the 15^th of October 2024, and comments thereof by other members, as permitted by the Standing Orders of Parliament, I communicated the findings of my enquiry into the matter, as the Speaker of the House, on the 17^th of October 2024, the contents of which has been construed to be a ruling. The Hon Alexander Afenyo-Markin disagreed vehemently with the contents of my communication as the Speaker of Parliament and proceeded to advance an earlier action he had commenced in the Supreme Court on the 15^th of October 2024, to prevent the Speaker of Parliament from receiving and making any pronouncement in the subject matter of the statement made by Hon Dr. Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, until the final determination of the matter by the Supreme Court . The rest, we say, is history.

 

7. Ladies and gentlemen, being a party to the suit in my official capacity, I am mindful of what I say. But it must be said, the suit before the Supreme Court raises not just legal questions but, more importantly, has profound implications for our democratic system of governance. At its core, is the very essence of our democracy. While many legal arguments have been advanced in and out of the Court, I recognize the fact that the connected political and governance implications have not been addressed sufficiently to enrich the national discourse. It is my considered view this should also be vigorously articulated to give a holistic approach to resolving the issue.

 

8. As one of the protagonists in this matter, and a long time practitioner, it will be a disservice not to, respectfully, draw your attention to some facts, principles, and ethics of politics and governance, the practice and procedures of Parliament, and what is generally referred to as “Parliamentary Law” to throw light on some aspects of the matter and to clarify the considerations that underpinned my actions.

 

9. The current brouhaha may be christened a “power play between the arms of government,” and it has the potential to undermine our democracy and the authority of Parliament. Its outcomes could subvert Ghana’s constitutional order and the democratic system Ghanaians have toiled, sacrificed their lives, and shed blood to establish for decades.

 

10. Ladies and gentlemen, recent acts of the Judiciary and Executive interference in the workings of Parliament pose a direct challenge to the essence, jurisdiction, authority, powers, and functioning of the esteemed institution of Parliament, which is the repository of the sovereign will of the people of Ghana. It is becoming increasingly clear, the Judiciary and the Executive are colluding to weaken Parliament.

 

11. The decision of the Ghanaian voters in the 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections is loud and clear to all discerning people. The decision is obviously a preference for a consensual and collaborative governance to a winner–take-all government. The majoritarian system of Parliament, where the Minority have a say, but the Majority have its way was rejected by the voters. They rather opted for inclusivity, collaboration, consensus building, leaving nobody behind. The equal representation of the two major political parties in Ghana, resulting in the composition of a hung parliament, to the voters, is the best way forward for our dear nation. The expectation of the voters, is, this will lead to the constitution of a Parliament where the national interest will prevail as against partisan or parochial interests.

 

12. This is the context and the peculiar situation I have to preside over. I am the first Speaker in the Fourth Republic, in fact, in the history of Ghana, to work with a President who belongs to a different Party, to preside over a House without a majority Party, but with an evenly divided Parliament – 137, apiece, ie, a hung Parliament. Decision making has therefore not been smooth sailing.

 

13. As the Speaker of the Parliament, I hold the balance in favour of the national interest but sometimes bend backwards to accede to government request because government has been given the mandate to govern. It is with this understanding, I led the Board of the Parliamentary Service and members of Parliament to provide procedural rules of engagement to actualise this goal and to provide for all the possible types of government as envisage in the Constitution. These possibilities include an election of an independent President to form a government, a minority government, a coalition or merger government and a Majority government. These are possible governments structures constitutionally guaranteed in Ghana.

 

14. In the current hung parliament, the new Standing Orders of Parliament cater for such a government by a number of provisions in the Standing Orders. For instance, a day every week, called a decision day, has been designated to allow MPs who are Ministers and Deputy Ministers the opportunity to be present in Parliament to be counted in support of government position to ensure government business does not suffer for lack of support in Parliament.

 

15. Despite the above, often, the number of government members present still don’t add up, due to the nature of the duties and responsibilities of the Ministers and Deputy Ministers. The NDC MPs however, understood the situation and on daily basis, co-operated with the NPP members of Parliament to see government business through. In spite of this, the NDC Members are said to be saboteurs of government business, by the NPP members of parliament and the followers of the NPP

 

16. Ladies and gentlemen, the powers of the Judiciary ends where the nose of the Parliament starts. The Constitution, is very clear on freedom of speech and of proceedings of Parliament. Articles 115 and 116 grant members of parliament privileges and immunity of speech, debates, and proceedings on any matter or thing brought by a member, in or before Parliament, by petition, Bill, motion or otherwise.

 

Article 115. “There shall be freedom of speech, debate and proceedings in Parliament and that freedom shall not be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Parliament. “

 

Article 116. “Subject to the provisions of this article, but without prejudice to the general effect of Article 115 of this Constitution, civil or criminal proceedings shall not be initiated against a member of Parliament in any Court or place out of Parliament for any matter or thing brought by him in or before Parliament by petition, Bill, motion or otherwise. “

 

This means happenings in Parliament must remain in Parliament. So the Courts must, and has always been hesitant to interfere in the proceedings and decisions of Parliament. In the celebrated case of Tuffour and the Attorney General the Supreme Court affirmed that happenings in parliament are a closed book.

 

17. Despite these provisions, the Courts are replete with debates and proceedings of Parliament. Most worrying is, these proceedings are initiated by some members of Parliament and even, leaders of Parliament, who ought to know better. Parliamentarians who are to be loyal to Parliament rather run to the Supreme Court at the slightest opportunity, to use the Supreme Court to undermine Parliament. This might be one of the reasons Parliament and MPs are not respected and treated with disdain. This was exhibited by the President’s refusal to even receive the LGBTQ Bill duly processed and passed by Parliament. The Judiciary is supportive of such a conduct by the receipt and processing of a suit on this subject matter. These are dangerous precedents in our democratic journey. They have sinned against the Constitution and must seek the opportunity to confess and repent to be forgiven.

 

18. I am confident the battles we are fighting today will make our democracy stronger and more vibrant in the future. I believe in the supremacy of the Constitution, mark my words, the supremacy of the Constitution, not the supremacy of the Judiciary or Supreme Court. I also believe in a vibrant Parliament that is respected and accorded its due on political questions as long established by law and decided cases.

 

19. A Parliament that understands, reflects, and embodies the will of the people and defends its constitutional prerogatives only works in the interest of Ghana and Ghanaians. Not a rubber stamp Parliament, subservient to the whims and caprices of the Executive and/or the Judiciary.

 

20. Again, I strongly believe that Parliament was one of the institutions President Barack Obama had in mind when he opined while in Ghana in 2009 that Africa needs strong institutions and not strong men. Parliament must be strong to perform its legislative function and the indispensable function of holding the President to account, ie, the oversight function — no other person or body has the gravitas and constitutional mandate to do so.

 

21. The public, media, civil society, and other partners in Governance can make constructive inputs and criticize actions and omissions of arms of government, but these bodies are not constitutionally and legally structured and mandated to hold the Executive to account. Parliament is elected, it is, at its best, the will of the people, legally and constitutionally structured and mandated to do so.

 

22. Ladies and gentlemen, my dream, therefore, is a patriotic one: the existence of a firm, effective, efficient and responsive Parliament, whose members place national and constituency interests ahead of narrow, partisan, or personal interests. Atlas, this is yet to materialize in Ghana.

 

23. Parliament weakens itself when its members keep running to our courts to settle or seek favorable determinations of not just legal matters but essentially political and governance questions. It is my strong believe the matter before the Supreme Court can be settled within Parliament through matured deliberations and compromises. Please make no mistake; not all the strong men President Obama warned us about come in military uniforms. Some come dressed in suits. I hope, in my lifetime, Ghana shall have a Parliament and a Speaker who are truly independent from Jubilee/Flagstaff House, or any Headquarters in the conduct of Parliamentary business.

 

24. Let me state unequivocally: Parliament owes its duty to the people who established and elected its members to serve and represent them. The wheels of Parliament will continue to turn, and no person would be allowed to disrupt Parliamentary proceedings or to undermine the democratic mandate of Parliament.

 

25. When I ruled in January 2021 on the issue of which side constitutes Majority and Minority in Parliament, and the ruling was in favour of the Majority Group then, it was not an act of lawlessness as to cause constitutional crises. When I ruled in the matter of the vacation of seats by Hon Kennedy Agyapong, Hon Henry Quartey, and Hon Sarah Adjoa Safo, the question of the interpretation of the Constitution was not raised. When my predecessor declared the Fomena seat vacant in 2020, applying the same provisions of Article 97, the original jurisdiction of Supreme Court to interpret and enforce provisions of the Constitution was not invoked. Peace reigned in these instances and nobody cried and run to the Supreme Court under the guise of constitutional interpretation.

 

26. If I may ask, is it a legal matter for the Supreme Court to decide as to which side of the House constitute the majority or minority? It is for good reason that justice is said to be blind and further that justice must not only be done but must be seen to be done in all cases, not in only those cases to which some people appear to be sentimentally attached.

 

27. Fellow Ghanaians, I respectfully call on the Supreme Court, to apply the same swiftness with which the motion ex parte in the instant matter was granted, to the case involving the President’s refusal to receive the Human Rights and Family Values Bill passed by Parliament, which has been pending before the same Court for almost a year without being heard.

 

28. Ladies and gentlemen, consistency is not just an ideal but the foundation of life. The Court cannot enjoin four MPs from serving their constituents for twelve weeks but was eager to deny the constituents of Assin North their representation because of the issue of allegiance. The court can deny the constituents of SALL the sanctity of representation for years. The court cannot even see that the Constitution itself permits a denial of representation within three months to the holding of a general election.

 

29. Ladies and gentlemen the Parliament of Ghana shall commence sitting as by law prescribed from tomorrow, November 7th, 2024. I have earlier instructed the Clerk to Parliament to transmit the LGBTQ Bill to the President for his assent.

 

30. Ladies and gentlemen, finally, I am aware of the business the government wants to transact through Parliament, and I am willing to collaborate with government. Despite all that I have said, Ghana first, and all Ghanaians should bear the President, Parliament, the Judiciary and all our leaders in prayer for the betterment of our people and country.

 

31. With this, I thank you all for your attention. Al-Salaam Allaikum!

The Speaker, Parliament of Ghana

6th November 2024

Watch: There is no constitutional crisis in Ghana, don’t be deceived – Alban Bagbin replies Chief Justice

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