By Ashiadey Dotse
Attorney-General Godfred Dame has stated that the Supreme Court has made a clear decision regarding the case of the vacant seats.
In a 5-2 majority ruling, the Supreme Court supported the lawsuit filed by Alexander Afenyo-Markin against Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin’s declaration of four vacant seats on Tuesday, November 12.
The Court noted that detailed reasons for its decision would be released the next day, Wednesday, November 13.
After the ruling, Godfred Dame told reporters that he expects the Speaker to follow the court’s decision, adding that he has known the Speaker to be a law-abiding person.
“The Court has made a clear decision on the matter, and I expect the Speaker to comply. I’ve known him for a long time, so I believe he will respect the court’s ruling. It was important for the court to come to this conclusion,” he said.
The case was filed by Alexander Afenyo-Markin, leader of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary caucus, challenging Speaker Bagbin’s declaration of the seats as vacant. Bagbin had declared the seats vacant on October 17, 2024, arguing that the MPs in question had violated constitutional rules. Afenyo-Markin then motioned to the Supreme Court to overturn Bagbin’s declaration.
Following this, the Supreme Court issued an order to temporarily halt Bagbin’s declaration. In response, Bagbin, through his lawyer Thaddeus Sory, argued that the Supreme Court should not interfere with his decision since it was not a judicial ruling.
On Wednesday, October 30, 2024 the Supreme Court asked the Speaker to file documents by November 11. On the same day, the Court dismissed Bagbin’s request to overturn its previous decision that paused the enforcement of his declaration of the vacant seats.
