The Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga, has backed the decision by the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin to suspend the approval of new ministers nominated by President Nana Akufo-Addo.
Alban Bagbin’s action on Wednesday, March 20, was prompted by a pending court application seeking an injunction against the approval process.
This move came after 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 to the Presidency for President Akufo-Addo’s assent.
In an interview on the Citi Breakfast Show on Thursday, March 21, Mahama Ayariga criticized the letter written by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s secretary to Parliament, describing it as disrespectful.
Ayariga expressed his concerns about the condescending tone of Nana Bediatuo Asante’s letter, emphasizing that Asante had no authority to correspond with Parliament regarding the Bill.
“The secretary did not do well and the tone of his letter was disrespectful to Parliament and knowing him as a lawyer, I was disappointed with him. There was unanimity and we thought he would had either assent to it or send it back to us if he thought otherwise.” Mahama Ayariga told host Bernard Avle.
The Bawku Central lawmaker added that the president’s attitude toward the approval or otherwise of the bill is worrying because Article (108) 7 allows him to “either assent or send it to the Council of State within seven days upon receiving the bill.”
He added that the president citing the two cases before the Supreme Court has no bearing on the approval of the bill because “the Supreme Court has already indicated that when Parliament sets a process in motion, they cannot get themselves involved unless the outcome is determined.”