The Member of Parliament for Tamale South, Haruna Iddrisu, has slammed the Secretray to the President, Nana Bediatuo Asante for what he describes as the disregard for the other branches of government.
According to him, the president’s secretary lacks the authority to write to the clerk of parliament, urging the House to withhold the recently passed Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, 2024 from being transmitted to President Akufo-Addo for his approval.
Addressing the media in Parliament on Tuesday, March 19, 2024, Mr Iddrisu said Nana Bediatuo Asante has no power to write to the clerk of parliament.
“I am unable to sleep because this is a monumental threat to Ghana’s democracy and a monumental threat to parliament as an institution. This letter only reflects President Akufo-Addo’s quest for predominance over other organs of the state. That is unacceptable and must be fought by all persons who love democracy and cherish the principles and values of the 1992 Constitution.”
“Politically, what power does the president’s secretary have to write to the clerk of parliament? And not the president himself writing directly to the Speaker of Parliament as required in the Standing Orders, so that officially, this can be read as communication from the president. So ideally, this paper means nothing and should be ignored by the clerk because communication to parliament must be signed by the president, addressed to the Speaker of Parliament,” he said.
In a letter addressed to the clerk to parliament on Monday, March 18, 2024, Nana Bediatuo Asante, urged parliament to refrain from transmitting the recently passed Anti-LGBT+ Bill to the presidency for his approval.
The presidency cited two pending applications before the Supreme Court for an order of interlocutory injunction against the Bill.
He also revealed that the Attorney-General had informed President Akufo-Addo via a letter dated March 18, 2024, about the ongoing legal actions.
“It has come to the attention of this Office that while the President and other senior officials of the Presidency were at Peduase for a Cabinet Retreat on Thursday, March 14, 2024, you attempted to submit the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, 2024 (the “Bill”) to Jubilee House for the president to signify his assent or otherwise to the Bill.”
“This Office is aware of two pending applications for an order of interlocutory injunction, both filed on March 7, 2024, in the Supreme Court in Dr. Amanda Odoi v. The Speaker of Parliament and The Attorney-General (J1/13/2023) and Richard Sky v. The Parliament of Ghana and The Attorney-General (31/9/2024), respectively, to restrain you and Parliament from transmitting the Bill to the President and also to restrain the President from signifying his assent to the Bill, pending the final determination of the matter,” portions of the statement read.