OPINION: A marauding breach in defence of the constitution, Mr A S K Bagbin?

The Speaker’s Oath in the second schedule of the 1992 constitution reads: “I … do in the name of the Almighty God swear that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Republic of Ghana as by law established; that I will uphold the integrity of the Republic of Ghana; that I will faithfully and conscientiously discharge my duties as Speaker of Parliament; and that I will uphold, 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 of Ghana and the laws and conventions of Parliament without fear or favour, affection or ill-will.”

How faithful, Mr A S K Bagbin, have you been to this oath of office?

The first article in the 1992 constitution, Article 1(2), makes it clear that there is supremacy of the constitution as against any organ or authority in the Republic of Ghana. Therefore, no one can do as s/he pleases in any position of public trust as Mr Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin is misconducting himself, the Office of Speaker and Parliament of the Republic of Ghana.

The Speaker of the House of Parliament has a number of duties which could be summarised as:

1. presiding in Parliament at all sittings and in his absence a deputy shall preside;

2. overseeing the administrative functions of Parliament; and

3. carrying out diplomatic and/or ceremonial duties.

In presiding over the House of Parliament, the Speaker’s procedural role is to:

✓ apply the procedural rules of Parliament, consistent with the 1992 constitution in a way that is fair for all Members of Parliament and political parties;

✓ maintain order in the House; and

✓ defend the rights and privileges of Members, including their freedom of speech.

Contrary to these clearly spelt duties and responsibilities, the present Speaker, Mr A S K Bagbin, has been on a frolic to grandstand and ride a high horse that only he can dismount or be forced off by the Supreme Court, or Members of Parliament who have tolerated him to our peril.

Ghana’s Parliament is subject to the constitution of the Republic of Ghana. This known fact notwithstanding, the Right Honourable Speaker Bagbin has carried himself in a manner unbecoming of the office and usurping powers not prescribed or ascribed to the office he questionably occupies.

Delusional

In the most recent public statement by Mr Bagbin, he raises serious concerns about how our government should work and he gives reason why any citizen should be worried:

1. He is president of Parliament. This is a very misconceived and misinformed opinion of the position of the Speaker of Parliament. There is no such thing and it can never be. He needs a revision of the delusional position he purports to hold.

2. Representing the public interest. On the contrary, he is misrepresenting public authority and the public interest by actually giving Parliament powers beyond what our constitution allows. This is nothing short of raping the 1992 constitution and harming our system of government.

3. While the Speaker frequently mentions the constitution, he only focuses on parts that he purports to support his position which, upon a careful reading, exposes his mischief or ignorance or both. That Parliament’s activities go beyond review is untenable and unconstitutional.

4. Threatening language. From 7 January 2021 and his rather partisan inaugural speech onwards, the way the Speaker speaks about the courts and the executive has been threatening. He claims the two are working together against Parliament, creating needless tension in Ghana.

5. Usurping the powers of the courts. The Speaker treats everyday parliamentary decisions the same way as addressing fundamental constitutional matters. Only the courts have the power to address legal questions of law. He is surreptitiously arrogating to himself the powers reserved for the courts in Articles 33 and 130 of the 1992 constitution.

6. Although Mr A S K Bagbin says he wants to protect our system of government, his posture suggests changes that could upset the careful balance among Parliament, the judiciary and the executive branch. This balance is essential for our government to work properly.

In the present challenge of confusion and misconduct by the Minority group in Parliament, no other person is responsible for it than the Speaker of Parliament. Contrary to Articles 97 (1)(g), 99, 112 (5) and (6), contentious Speaker Bagbin claimed he was giving information to Parliament on some purported vacancies in the august House when he fully knew, or ought to have known, that it was an exercise in excess of his powers and that it was going to be of no effect.

In so doing, and without the option of replacement, Mr Bagbin was reducing the Parliament of 275 Members to 271. He was pushing, single-handedly and without recourse to the law, to limit a House inaugurated with 275 members to close with 271 members.

By any means necessary

It is not about whether a constituency is represented or not, but the number of seats in Parliament. Can it be reduced? The Bagbin schemes remind me of Reverend Dr Denis M’Passou’s mind-arresting book of 1985, titled  Murder in the Interest of the Church. In this book, Dr M’Passou told a story which highlights the problem of deliberate evil.

The protagonist, Rev Chuma, creates circumstances which necessitate saving his reputation and that of the church by any means, fair or foul. Any reader is led to find how far Mr Chuma’s “clever” intrigues and manoeuvres could take him; killing under the guise of protecting, where it is decreed: “Thou Shall NOT Kill.” Unlike Chuma, Bagbin is embarking on his schemes for himself ONLY, thus maiming the 1992 constitution while claiming to defend the same.

He doesn’t care about what happens to anyone. After all, he knows he has little time to live protected by the very constitution he is defying. Mr A S K Bagbin is engaged in the trifling legal gymnastics he appears to be enjoying because he knows his days are numbered and he seeks to “steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10).

Surely, the days of this abominable eighth parliament of the Fourth Republic shall cease to exist after the night of 6 January 2025 with its questionable Speaker. Every dying animal struggles. Perhaps, the Right Honourable Speaker has NOT yet fully appreciated the weight of the burden he wilfully and gleefully imposed upon himself when he took that solemn oath, the controversies surrounding his purported election notwithstanding.

Those who experience grace must live as beneficiaries of grace, manifesting gracefulness, graciousness and gratitude, not the opposite. May God grant us life to see the outcome of our actions in the making or unmaking of Ghana. God bless our homeland Ghana, and make our nation great and strong even with a Bagbin.

James Kwabena Bomfeh Jnr

The writer is a freelance writer, nationalist politician and activist of constitutional law