We cannot approve your new ministers – Speaker Bagbin tells Akufo-Addo

The Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Bagbin, has suspended the consideration of Ministers and Deputy Ministers of State nominated by President Akufo-Addo.

Bagbin’s decision stems from an interlocutory injunction filed at the Supreme Court by MP for South Dayi, Rockson-Nelson Etse K. Dafeamekpor, rendering Parliament unable to sanction new ministers nominated by President Akufo-Addo.

This action by Bagbin follows a directive from the presidency, which issued a cease and desist letter to Parliament, restraining them from transmitting the Bill on Human Sexual Rights and Family Values for President Akufo-Addo’s assent.

The presidency cited an ongoing interlocutory application at the Supreme Court as grounds for their decision.
In an official response, Bagbin reiterated Parliament’s inability to proceed with the approval of new ministers under similar circumstances.

The “ongoing scenario poses a grave threat to our legislative authority and, by extension, the democratic principles we strive to uphold. The implications of such executive actions extend far beyond the immediate legislative items at hand. They erode the foundational checks and balances that our forebearers painstakingly established to ensure a vibrant and functioning democracy.”

Bagbin added that “The Parliament of Ghana will comply with the existing legal framework and reject the attempts by the Executive Secretary of the President, through his contemptuous letter, to instruct the Clerk to Parliament, an Officer of Parliament whose position is recognizably under the Constitution. We shall not cease and desist!