By Savannah Pokuaah Duah
Former UN Governance Advisor, Professor Baffour Agyeman Duah, has expressed concerns that Ghana’s leaders are wasting time on the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin’s ruling.
In an interview on GBC’s current affairs programme ‘Focus’, Prof. Duah spoke on the topic “Constitutional Standoff in Parliament: Speaker’s Ruling, SC Intervention, and Two Majority Sides”.
He argued that critical issues are being neglected.
“My fear is that there are many important issues this country needs to address, and I’m afraid we’re wasting time and energy on these legalities,” he said on October 23, 2024.
His comment comes on the back of Speaker Bagbin’s ruling on the declaration of four vacant seats.
The Speaker of Parliament gave his ruling on a motion filed by former Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu seeking the Speaker to declare four parliamentary seats vacant. The opposition MPs believe the four affected MPs—Cynthia Morrison (Agona West), Kwadjo Asante (Suhum), Andrew Asiamah Amoako (Fomena), and Peter Kwakye Ackah (Amenfi Central)—have breached Article 97(1)(g) and (h) of the 1992 Republican Constitution.
The Supreme Court then issued a stay of execution on Speaker Alban Bagbin’s ruling. The application to stay the Speaker’s decision was filed by New Patriotic Party (NPP) Members of Parliament, who sought the Court’s intervention to halt the enforcement of the ruling.
But Governance Expert, Prof. Agyeman Duah maintained the various arms of government must collaborate to resolve the conflict.
“I respect the separation of powers and each arm’s role, but if there’s a conflict, the solution lies in putting their heads together. Otherwise, we’ll hurt ourselves by dragging this issue indefinitely.”
He clarified that while the three arms of government work independently, their independence is not absolute. “When we talk about independence, it’s not absolute; otherwise, there would be no checks and balances,” he added.
