The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) has demanded an immediate retraction and unqualified apology from the first deputy speaker of parliament, Mr Joseph Osei-Owusu, for what the association describes as unsavory comments against its members. According to GUTA, the lawmaker implied traders are thieves who are ripping off Ghanaians and should be blamed for the hike in prices and not the taxes introduced by the government. Read details of statement below: Source: Apexnewsgh.com
A nine-member review panel of the Supreme Court has dismissed a review application seeking a reverse of the apex court’s judgement that a Deputy Speaker of Parliament has a voting rights while presiding. The court presided over by Justice Jones Dotse in its short ruling said the application for review falls short of the threshold needed to warrant a review. The court dismissed the application as unmeritorious. The Applicant contends that, there is a miscarriage of justice in the judgement which warrant that it is reviewed. Diana Asonaba Dapaah, a Deputy Attorney General, arguing on the point of law said no new matter or exceptional circumstances had been raised to warrant a review. She said, the application is unmeritorious and abuse of court processes and prayed for the application to be dismissed. The panel of Justice Jones Dotse, Justice Nene Amegatcher, Justixe Prof. Nii Ashie Kotey, Justice Mariama Owusu, Justice Lovelance Johnson, Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, Justice Clemence Honyenuga, Justice Henrietta Mensah-Bonsu and Justice Yonni Kolendi subsequently dismissed it. Review notion Private Legal practitioner Justice Abdulai has filed an application at the Supreme Court seeking a review of the court’s judgement that, a Deputy Speaker of Parliament has a voting right while presiding. The Applicant contends that, there is a miscarriage of justice in the judgement which warrant that it is reviewed. A seven member panel of the apex court presided over by Justice Jones Victor Dotse in a unanimous judgement on March 9, 2022 said the budget approval of November 31 was valid. In a motion on notice for review of the apex court anchored on Article 133 of the 1992 Constitution and Rule 54(a) of C.I16, the plaintiff is seeking a review of the ordinary panel’s judgement on March 9 The Applicant contends that, the following are the exceptional circumstances that the court should look at and review their decision. a) Failure of the Ordinary Bench to consider the legislative antecedents in Ghana on the original vote of a Deputy Speaker (or any person) presiding in Parliament, as borne out in the 1957 Constitution (Order in Council); the Parliament Act, 1965, (Act 300); and continuous effect of the Constitution (consequential and transitional) provisions Decree, 1969, (NLCD 406); b. Failure of the Ordinary Bench to consider Article 297(h) of the Constitution and Section 10 of the Parliament Act, 1965, (Act 300) in interpreting Articles 295(2) and 104(2) of the Constitution, which consequently led it to the holding that a reference to the Speaker of Parliament cannot be a reference to the Deputy Speaker of Parliament; c. Failure of the Ordinary Bench to consider the saving clause in Article 104(1) in interpreting Articles 102 and 104(1) of the Constitution, whichconsequently led it to the holding that a Deputy Speaker can be countedaspart of quorum in determining matters in Parliament. d. Failure of the Ordinary Bench to consider Article 298 of the Constitution, which consequently led it to the wrong assumption of jurisdiction in filling up a perceived gap in the Constitution by means of interpretation; and striking down Order 109(3) of the Standing Orders of Parliament. Ordinary Bench The panel that sat on the matter were Justice Victor Jones Dotse (presiding), Justice Emmanuel Yonny Kulendi, Justice Nene A. Amegatcher, Prof. Nii Ashie Kotey, Justice Mariama Owusu, Justice Avril Lovelace-Johnson, and Justice Clemence Jackson Honyenuga. The application for review has been fixed for April 25, 2022. Judgement Per the judgment of the Ordinary Bench, the Court decided that upon the true and proper interpretation of Articles 102, 104(1), 104(2), 295(2), 95, 96 and chapter 10 of the Constitution in general: a. The Deputy Speaker could count himself for purposes of a quorum, and is entitled to an original vote; b. That Order 109(3) of the Standing Orders of Parliament of the Republic of Ghana is inconsistent with the 1992 Constitution; c. That the decision of Parliament approving the Government of Ghana budget and economic policy for 2022, taken on the 30th November, 2021, with the Deputy Speaker as part of the quorum of Parliament, is valid; d. That Ghana’s position on the right of the presiding officer of Parliament to vote on a matter is in consonance with the Lawor practice in the Commonwealth and Anglo-American Jurisdictions as the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia, Kenya, and South Africa. e. That the decision of parliament approving the budget and economic policy of Government on 30th November, 2021, was valid.
Joseph Osei-Owusu, First Deputy Speaker of Parliament
In his immediate critique of President Akufo-Addo’s State of the Nation Address, Haruna Iddrisu, the Minority Leader of Parliament identified the president’s silence on the persons killed during the 2020 election as a major flaw of the address. Describing it as ‘conspicuous’, Haruna Iddrisu bemoaned President Akufo-Addo’s failure to capture the death of five people in the elections in the final address of his first term. “This honourable house thanks the President for the message on the state of the nation…. Mr President, we leave our fractured democracy in your hands. Conspicuously lost in your speech is the loss of lives in Techiman and other parts of Ghana,” the Minority Leader stated. The same sentiment was expressed by political science lecturer Professor Ransford Gyampo who criticized President Akufo-Addo for ignoring the election-related deaths in his address. “A speech coming just after our election that witnessed some deaths should have contained some comment about the needless loss of lives, commiseration with the family of the departed, as well as some vow and commitment to resolving infractions of the law, with the view to forestalling the recurrence of such unwarranted deaths in any future elections,” a part of Gyampo’s statement reads. While the aforementioned political figures shudder to comprehend why President Akufo-Addo will turn a blind eye to an issue of such nature, Joseph Osei Owusu, the First Deputy Speaker has offered a probable cause for the president’s action. The Bekwai Member of Parliament in an interview with TV3 on the sidelines of the event likened the victims of the Techiman South shooting incident to armed robbers gunned down by the police. Joe Wise as he is known in the political circles in his justification said the president exercised sound discretion by being silent on the matter. “The president should stay out, let the investigative people determine what happened but I think it is not fair to insist that because somebody died, even if he was in the process of committing a crime, it becomes an issue, no, I beg to differ.” “I think it is not fair for people to refer to an event without going back, what happened? Should the president just be talking about if a criminal is shot, the crime does not matter?”, he quizzed. When asked if it was okay for the President not to send a message of condolence to family of the victim, Joe Wise quizzed “do we commiserate with the families of armed robbers we shoot?”. Listen to the MP in the video below: Ghanaweb Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093.
