Kudos to Rt. Hon. Speaker, A.S.K Bagin for his firm and bold ruling

When the motion brought by the former Minority Leader and MP for Tamale South, Hon. Haruna Iddrisu was tabled and commented on by MPs on the floor of Parliament, the Speaker delivered a balanced and firm reasoned ruling within 48 hours on Thursday, 17. October 2024.

The Speaker was right to have relied on Article 97 1(g) and (h) of the 1992 Constitution, Parliament’s New Standing Orders and Parliamentary precedence to make his historic ruling on Thursday. The declaration of the seats of the 4 MPs (3 NPP MPs & 1 NDC MP) vacant by the Speaker of the 8th Parliament was right, firm and bold.

The 4 MPs, namely Hon. Peter Yaw Kwakye-Ackah, Hon. Andrews Asiamah Amoako, Hon. Kwadjo Asante and Hon. Cynthia Mamle Morrison have flouted this Provision of the Constitution and should vacate their seats accordingly.

Upon listening to the comments by MPs from both Majority and Minority sides of Parliament and final ruling of Speaker Bagbin on Thursday, I am certain that the Speaker’s ruling was firm and sound!

The actions of the now Minority leader, Hon. Afenyo Markin of the NPP caucus exposed their hypocritical stand on the successful motion tabled by Hon. Haruna Iddrisu in Parliament. When the former Speaker, Prof. Mike Oquaye ruled to make the Fomena seat vacant in 2020, the NPP was satisfied with that ruling due to their comfortable number of MPs in the House then.

Now that the NPP caucus does not have the MP numbers in the House, they are displaying double standards now. The confrontational behavior of the Minority leader, Afenyo Markin toward the Speaker on the floor of Parliament on Thursday was highly worrying. The bold and firm ruling by Speaker Bagbin shows that he cannot be dictated to by Afenyo Markins and be cowed into making a ruling that the NPP caucus needed so badly.

What happened on Thursday in the House followed the dictates of the 1992 Constitution and Parliamentary precedence. Even before the reasoned ruling from Speaker Bagbin, the Minority leader, Afenyo Markin ran to the Supreme Court to injunct his ruling. This is indeed troubling in a democracy like ours.

Until the legal process at the Supreme Court unfolds, there is the need to keep an eye on the sitting arrangements in Parliament next week Tuesday since the Majority and Minority sides have swapped their side based on Speaker Bagbin’s reasoned ruling on Thursday.

The NPP Minority caucus now until further notice should learn a good lesson from the switch of sides from Majority to Minority and vice versa. The struggling NPP Caucus is only trying to buy time and keep their embattled 3 MPs and do business with them until January 6, 2024. In life, nothing is permanent.

Just as the NPP caucus used their Speaker, Prof. Mike Oquaye to kick out the Fomena MP in 2020 based on the same Article 97 1 (g) and (h) of the Constitution and now faced with the fate in 2024, running to the Supreme Court to frustrate the reasoned ruling by Speaker Bagbin will come back to fit them hard.

If care is not taken in this case, there will be a serious clash between the 2 independent Arms of government (i.e. the Judiciary and the Legislature). Kudos to Rt. Hon. Speaker, A.S.K Bagin for his firm and bold reasoned ruling delivered on 17. October 2024. Posterity will remember him kindly.