Attorney-General’s advice vindicates Speaker of Parliament

Our attention has been drawn to an “advice” from the office of the attorney: General and Minister of Justice, dated March 21, 2024, addressed to the Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliament.

In the said advice, the Attorney-General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, questioned the well-reasoned decision of the Rt. Hon. Speaker Alban Bagbin in upholding the pendency of an interlocutory injunction in the matter of Rockson-Nelson Defeamekpor versus The Speaker of Parliament and the Attorney-General, relative to the approval of the President’s nominees for Ministerial and Deputy Ministerial appointments.

It is worth noting that, whereas the Attorney-General purported to be at fault in the Speaker's ruling on the issue referenced above, he rather vindicated the position taken by the Rt. Honourable Speaker, who barely took a cue from a precedent that was set by President Akufo-Addo based on “advice” from this same Attorney-General.

The Attorney-General’s claim that Mr. Speaker erred because there was no injunction in respect of the above-named suit is not borne out by the facts. The Speaker of Parliament rather stands vindicated in his decision to err on the side of caution, in view of the expressed injunctive relief that had been stated in the writ of summons, a copy of which was duly served on the Rt. Hon. Speaker on March 19, 2024. By law, the plaintiff had fourteen days to file a statement of the case and an application for interlocutory injunction, which has duly been done.

On the contrary, it would be recalled that President Akufo-Addo informed members of the diplomatic community at a meeting on March 4, 2024, of a supposed court case at the Supreme Court. The President even went on to state that he was restrained from signing the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, which was yet to be transmitted to him, on account of that suit.

It turned out that, at the time, the President was speaking to members of the Diplomatic Corps; there was no such writ before the Supreme Court. The writ was subsequently filed on March 5, 2024.

If we may ask, between the Rt. Hon. Speaker, who was seized with a court process, and President Akufo-Addo, who acted on a non-existent writ, which of them showed fidelity to the law? The answer is obviously the Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliament.

Attorney-General Godfred Dame must stop his unwarranted attacks on the Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliament. Mr. Dame has demonstrated time without number that he cannot prioritise the national interest over his party’s parochial and self-serving interests. Consistently, he behaves like a regime lawyer and constantly displays arrogance and unbridled partisanship in the discharge of his duties.

If there ever was a time when decoupling the role of Attorney-General from Minister of Justice was pressing and relevant, that time is now.

This is because the conduct of Godfred Dame as Attorney-General and Minister of Justice epitomises all that is inherently wrong in keeping both roles in the same person.