Compel Bagbin, Akufo-Addo to act on Anti-LGBT+ Bill within 7 days – Defeamakpor to Court

Member of Parliament (MP) for South Dayi, Rockson Nelson-Dafeamekpor has filed a new application at the High Court to compel the Speaker of Parliament to submit an Anti-LGBT+ Bill to the President within 7 days.

The plaintiff is also asking the Court to compel the president to accept the bill and either sign or indicate to Parliament he cannot assent within the same period.

The latest application for Judicial Review like Mandamus was filed on March 22. It was premised on the grounds that, the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill has been duly passed by the Parliament of Ghana in compliance with Article 106 (1), (2), (3), (4), (5) and (6) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.

The legislator who is the plaintiff also argued that the Bill “must be transmitted to and received by the President of Ghana for assent or otherwise in accordance with Article 106 (7) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.”

According to EIB Network's Legal Affairs Correspondent, Murtala Inusah, an application for Mandamus is a request to a Court asking it to compel or order a government official to properly fulfill their official duties or correct an abuse of discretion.

This action followed an earlier writ the MP had initiated at the Supreme Court seeking a restraining order against the Speaker of Parliament from vetting and approving ministerial nominees, the basis of which the Speaker has refused to consider the fate of the President’s nominees.

But, the Attorney General in a response said there was nothing before the Supreme Court inhibiting the work of Parliament because the plaintiff’s action does not restrain Parliament.

Below are the reliefs being sought by the Plaintiff in his application for Mandamus:

I. A declaration that the Parliament of Ghana duly complied with all the Constitutional provisions stipulated in Article 106 (1), (2), (3), (4), (5) and (6) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana in the passage of the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill on the 28th of February, 2024.

II. An Order of mandamus directed at the 1st Respondent herein to present the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill to the President of the Republic of Ghana herein in accordance with Article 106 (7) of the 1992 Republic Constitution of Ghana on the basis that the Parliament of Ghana has duly complied with all the Constitutional provisions stipulated under Article 106 (1), (2), (3), (4), (5) and (6) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.

III. An Order directed at the President of Ghana to receive the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill as presented by Parliament in accordance with Article 106 (7) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana for the purposes of his assent or otherwise.

IV. An Order directed at the President of the Republic of Ghana to signify to the 1st Respondent herein, within seven days after the presentation of the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, his assent to the Bill or that he refuses to assent to the bill in accordance with Article 106 (7) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana unless the Bill is referred by the President to the Council of State pursuant to Article 90 of the Constitution of Ghana.

V. Any other relief(s) this Honourable Court may deem fit.