Speaker Bagbin Warns: The Devastating Impact of Court Litigation on Parliamentary Proceedings”

Beloved Ghanaians, democracy will work only if we fight for it, says President Barack Obama of the United States. I swore an oath to uphold, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana and that I will do right to all manner of persons in accordance with the Constitution and the laws and conventions of Parliament without fear or favour, affection or ill-will. I concluded the swearing of the oath with a call on God to help me. I am very confident and I have faith in God to see me through these dark days of Ghana and our young democracy.

Ladies and gentlemen, I want to start this presser by disabusing and setting the minds of Ghanaians at ease. There is no constitutional crisis in this country. I repeat, there is no constitutional crisis. The Parliament of Ghana is alive and working. Let nobody mislead, misinform, or disinform, you and the country. The democratic system we adopted and enacted, as captured in the Constitution, 1992, and fleshed out in various laws, processes, procedures and practices, is what has been triggered and it is working. Let us allow it to work.

Democracy is about the rule of law. Let the law work. The democratic system we adopted and enacted recognizes, that in the course of operationalizing the system, disagreements will occur, and challenges and problems will arise. The system has put in place mechanisms, structures, and institutions, processes, procedures and rules to follow and apply to resolve the disagreement, convert the challenges into opportunities and provide solutions to the problems. This is what is being pursued and applied. There is no constitutional crisis in the country.

Beloved Ghanaians, I have served Parliament and the people of Ghana continuously for over 32 years as a politician and over 42 years as a public servant. I cherish the role Parliament plays in our democracy. And my mission is to leave Parliament a stronger institution than I met it.

Parliament is alive and working. It has not been dissolved, prorogued, prohibited, suspended or terminated. The plenary sitting and meetings of Parliament were adjourned indefinitely, due to a lack of quorum to take decisions created by a walkout staged by the NPP Members who were available, as a result of a disagreement. The cause of the disagreement which led to a disorder had to be resolved with time and the engagement of many more leaders than those in Parliament. The adjournment was done by the lawful authority, the Speaker of Parliament. Let us stop pressing the panic buttons and fear-mongering and allow the system to work. Anger and indecent language rather inflame the situation. There can be no democracy without patience, tolerance, discipline, collaboration, the love for one another and consensus building.

Ladies and gentlemen, one may ask, what led to this disagreement? Following a statement by Hon Dr. Cassiel Ato Baah Forson on a matter he considered to be of urgent public importance on the 15th of October 2024, and comments thereof by other members, as permitted by the Standing Orders of Parliament, I communicated the findings of my enquiry into the matter, as the Speaker of the House, on the 17th of October 2024, the contents of which has been construed to be a ruling. The Hon Alexander Afenyo-Markin disagreed vehemently with the contents of my communication as the Speaker of Parliament and proceeded to advance an earlier action he had commenced in the Supreme Court on the 15th of October 2024, to prevent the Speaker of Parliament from receiving and making any pronouncement in the subject matter of the statement made by Hon Dr. Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, until the final determination of the matter by the Supreme Court. The rest, we say, is history.

Ladies and gentlemen, being a party to the suit in my official capacity, I am mindful of what I say. But it must be said, the suit before the Supreme Court raises not just legal questions but, more importantly, has profound implications for our democratic system of governance. At its core, is the very essence of our democracy. While many legal arguments have been advanced in and out of the Court, I recognize the fact that the connected political and governance implications have not been addressed sufficiently to enrich the national discourse. It is my considered view this should also be vigorously articulated to give a holistic approach to resolving the issue.

As one of the protagonists in this matter and a long-time practitioner, it would be a disservice not to, respectfully, draw your attention to some facts, principles, and ethics of politics and governance, the practice and procedures of Parliament, and what is generally referred to as “Parliamentary Law” to throw light on some aspects of the matter and to clarify the considerations that underpinned my actions.

The current brouhaha may be christened a “power play between the arms of government,” and it has the potential to undermine our democracy and the authority of Parliament. Its outcomes could subvert Ghana’s constitutional order and the democratic system Ghanaians have toiled, sacrificed their lives, and shed blood to establish for decades.

Ladies and gentlemen, recent acts of the Judiciary and Executive interference in the workings of Parliament pose a direct challenge to the essence, jurisdiction, authority, powers, and functioning of the esteemed institution of Parliament, which is the repository of the sovereign will of the people of Ghana. It is becoming increasingly clear, that the Judiciary and the Executive are colluding to weaken Parliament.

The decision of the Ghanaian voters in the 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections is loud and clear to all discerning people. The decision is a preference for consensual and collaborative governance to a winner-take-all government. The majoritarian system of Parliament, where the Minority have a say, but the Majority have its way was rejected by the voters. They rather opted for inclusivity, collaboration, and consensus building, leaving nobody behind. The equal representation of the two major political parties in Ghana, resulting in the composition of a hung parliament, to the voters, is the best way forward for our dear nation. The expectation of the voters, is, this will lead to the constitution of a Parliament where the national interest will prevail as against partisan or parochial interests.

This is the context and the peculiar situation I have to preside over. I am the first Speaker in the Fourth Republic, in fact, in the history of Ghana, to work with a President who belongs to a different Party, to preside over a House without a majority Party, but with an evenly divided Parliament – 137, apiece, ie, a hung Parliament. Decision-making has therefore not been smooth sailing.

As the Speaker of the Parliament, I hold the balance in favour of the national interest but sometimes bend backwards to accede to government requests because the government has been given the mandate to govern. It is with this understanding, that I led the Board of the Parliamentary Service and members of Parliament to provide procedural rules of engagement to actualise this goal and to provide for all the possible types of government as envisaged in the Constitution. These possibilities include an election of an independent President to form a government, a minority government, a coalition or merger government and a Majority government. These are possible government structures constitutionally guaranteed in Ghana.

In the current hung parliament, the new Standing Orders of Parliament cater for such a government by a number of provisions in the Standing Orders. For instance, a day every week, called a decision day, has been designated to allow MPs who are Ministers and Deputy Ministers the opportunity to be present in Parliament to be counted in support of the government position to ensure government business does not suffer for lack of support in Parliament.

Despite the above, often, the number of government members present still doesn’t add up, due to the nature of the duties and responsibilities of the Ministers and Deputy Ministers. The NDC MPs however, understood the situation and on a daily basis, co-operated with the NPP members of Parliament to see government business through. In spite of this, the NDC Members are said to be saboteurs of government business, by the NPP members of parliament and the followers of the NPP party.

Ladies and gentlemen, the powers of the Judiciary end where the nose of the Parliament starts. The Constitution is very clear on freedom of speech and of proceedings of Parliament. Articles 115 and 116 grant members of parliament privileges and immunity of speech, debates, and proceedings on any matter or thing brought by a member, in or before Parliament, by petition, Bill, motion or otherwise.

Article 115. “There shall be freedom of speech, debate and proceedings in Parliament and that freedom shall not be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Parliament.”