Portions of a certified copy of the Supreme Court ruling on whether or not Deputy Speakers of Parliament, must be allowed to vote while presiding in the business of the House is out, but thrown many into a state of shock, as the Apex court appears to be running from going into a conflict with Parliament.
The court after expressing it opinion on how unfair it is to deny a Deputy Speaker who is also a Member of Parliament his voting rights, as well as those of his constituents because he was presiding over the House in the absence of a Speaker, threw back the corrective measure to be adopted to Parliament to take and literally walked away.
It said “Parliament may achieve this by amending its orders or adopting parliamentary practices to give effect to this constitutional imperative”.
It is unclear, if the seven judges namely; Justices Jones Dotse, Nene Amegatcher, Prof Ashie Kotey, Mariama Owusu, Lovelace Johnson, Clemence Honyenuga and Emmanuel Kulendi were misquoted by the media in the matter of Justice Abdulai vrs Attorney General. They were said to have been unanimous in their ruling.
The country, has been divided over the matter since last Wednesday’s ruling with the two leading political parties; the National Democratic Congress and the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) expressing varying opinions on the decision.
While the NPP, including the President Nana Akufo-Addo, was happy about the decision, the NDC and its 2020 Presidential Candidate, John Mahama, were unhappy with the ruling, saying it amounted to judicial interference into the work of the legislature.
But portions of the ruling sighted by The Herald, revealed that the seven judges, were not explicit on the matter, but pushed the decision on Parliament to take.
They had said that “…. we are compelled by the Constitution to hold that a Deputy Speaker or person presiding does not lose their right to vote when they are presiding over the proceedings of Parliament.
“It must be emphasized however that the procedural and or operational rules to practicalise the protection of this constitutional right in a member presiding in the absence of a Speaker and his or her duty to represent his or her constituents in the vote and decision are matters within the exclusive domain of parliament itself. Parliament may achieve this by amending its orders or adopting parliamentary practices to give effect to this constitutional imperative”.
The Communication Officer of the NDC, Sammy Gyamfi, who is a lawyer, has taken to Facebook speaking on the subject, saying “Folks, the patently unconstitutional, illogical and absurd decision by the Supreme Court to the effect that a Deputy Speaker while presiding over Parliament can vote, has a very interesting operational condition attached to it that is worthy of note.
According to him “after erroneously determining that a Deputy Speaker while presiding can vote, the Supreme Court in their conclusion at the last paragraph of page 23 and the first paragraph of page 24 of their judgment had this to say; “In view of the foregoing, we are compelled by the Constitution to hold that a Deputy Speaker or person presiding does not lose their right to vote when they are presiding over the proceedings of Parliament.
“It must be emphasized however that the procedural and or operational rules to practicalise the protection of this constitutional right in a member presiding in the absence of a Speaker and his or her duty to represent his or her constituents in the vote and decision are matters within the exclusive domain of parliament itself. Parliament may achieve this by amending its orders or adopting parliamentary practices to give effect to this constitutional imperative”.
“It is very clear from the above, that until Parliament itself amend its standing orders or adopt new parliamentary practices and/or procedural or operational rules to implement the absurd decision of the Supreme Court that a Deputy Speaker can vote while presiding, no deputy speaker can vote in the house.
“Now let’s see how the Attorney General and Minister for Injustice, Godfred Yeboah Dame will get the Rt. Hon. Speaker and the fearless and gallant 137 NDC members of Parliament to do this. I shall return with my substantive views on the judgement itself. Sammy Gyamfi Esq.
