The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, yesterday ordered to be expunged from the “Order Paper” the Criminal Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2022 over procedural matters.
This was when the Minority Leader and MP for Ajumako/Enyan/Esiam, Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, called the attention of the House to the reintroduction of the Bill to the House, and accused the President of breach of the Constitution.
The Order Paper is a schedule showing the sequence of the matters to be dealt with in a House sitting prepared by the Clerk, under the direction of the Speaker by the authority of the House Business Committee. It is the agenda through which the proceedings of the House are closely steered.
Parliament in July 2023 passed the Criminal Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2022, to proscribe witchcraft accusation but the President is yet to assent to it in accordance with provisions of Article 106 of the 1992 Constitution.
Per Article 106 (7) “Where a bill passed by Parliament is presented to the President for assent he shall signify, within seven days after the refuses to assent to the bill, unless the bill has been referred by the President to the Council of State under Article 90 of this Constitution.”
Where the President refuses to assent to a bill, clause 8 of Article 106 mandates him to within 14 days after the refusal, “state in a memorandum to the Speaker any specific provisions of the bill which in his opinion should be reconsidered by Parliament, including his recommendations for amendments if any” or “inform the Speaker that he has referred the bill to the Council of State for consideration and comment under article 90 of this Constitution”.
Parliament, clause 9 of Article 106 says shall reconsider the bill taking into account the comments made by the President or the Council of State, as the case may be, under clause (8) of this article.
In his ruling, the Speaker said the decision by the Executive without recourse to provisions of the Constitution was an affront to the authority of Parliament.
Consequently, the Speaker ordered for the Bill to be expunged from the Order Paper immediately for the proper thing to be done.
“Parliaments as an institution must be taken seriously by everybody in this country. It is for a good reason that the framers of the Constitution mandated Parliament to pass laws,” the Speaker stated.
According to him, Parliament did a good job in the consideration and passage of the Bill, followed due procedure in transmitting to the President.
“For us not to receive any communication from the presidency, even to acknowledge receipt or to say they have a problem with it, that definitely is unacceptable,” the Speaker stressed.
In his support for the Minority Leader, Tamale South MP, Haruna Iddrisu, said the House should not set a precedent where the President refuses to assent to a Bill and walks away as if he has the mandate and authority to do so.
“If he has, he owes this house the fidelity to the provisions of article 106 of the constitution. Other than that some important bills tomorrow may pass and the President will walk this wrong path. It’s wrong constitutionally, he has no reason, if he has reason he must write to you formally,” he said.
Offering some explanations, Majority Leader and MP for Suame, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, said the President had noticed some “technical challenges” and had arranged to meet with the speaker to address those challenges.
The President, the Majority Leader said holds high the Constitution and would not do anything to undermine it.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
