Bagbin blasts Akufo-Addo on his position on Witchcraft, other bills; says its “irregular, wrongful and unconstitutional”

The Speaker of Parliament Rt Hon Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin has descended heavily on President Akufo-Addo’s decision to withhold assent to the Criminal Offences Amendment Bill and the Ghana Armed Forces Amendment Bill.

According to him, the President’s reasoning for rejecting the said bills is “tragically wrong” and “ill-informed.”

This comes after President Akufo-Addo, in a letter, had cited financial implications on the state’s consolidated fund and potential breaches of Article 108 of the Constitution as the basis for his refusal.

He specifically pointed to the Ghana Armed Forces Amendment Bill, sponsored by Madina MP Francis-Xavier Sosu, as having financial burdens associated with replacing the death penalty with life imprisonment.

However, in a preliminary commentary on the position of the President, the Speaker dismissed these concerns, asserting that the President was misguided in his assessment of the bills’ financial implications.

He noted his intention to submit a detailed statement under Article 53 to express his position on the matter and allow members of the house to make comments on it.

“Vehemently we disagree with the position taken by the president. The president has gotten it tragically wrong and I will submit in the form of a statement under article 53 my position in this matter and allow members of the house to make comments so that we can take a clear position in this matter. And I will do so during this week.”

“The president has not been properly advised. The President has not been properly informed about the processes this bill has gone through. So I will submit a detailed write-up on it for members to make their comments but I am very clear that this message and the contents are irregular, wrongful and unconstitutional.”

“The responsibility to decide whether a bill should come from a private member or not rests on the person presiding. The procedure in the act clearly states what the president is expected to do. It is not for the president to decide on the constitutionality or otherwise of a bill that has been presented and considered by parliament. This power of parliament will not be taken away by any exemptive authority,” he said.