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A member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP)’s Legal Team, Gary Nimako Marfo, has dismissed suggestions that Deputy Speakers of Parliament are referees mediating proceedings in the House.

According to him, they are principally Members of Parliament (MPs) representing a particular group of people whose representation must first of all be met in parliament by their member of parliament before any other duty.

Brawl In Parliament

Agitations over whether a deputy speaker presiding over proceedings and thus considered as a referee, could partake in an ongoing voting process resulted in a near-bloodbath in Parliament in December, last year.

The Majority and the minority caucus had physical exchanges after the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin excused himself from the sitting and asked his deputy to continue with the business of the night.

The minority raised an objection against the deputy speaker of parliament who wanted his vote to be counted on the E-lvey tax proposed in the 2022 budget.

The objection resulted in massive chaos on the floor of parliament as the Majority thought it was right for the deputy speaker to have his vote count.

The Minster for Youth and Sports and Member of Parliament for Yagaba-Kubori, Mustapha Ussif was rushed to the Parliament Clinic during the infamous brawl after allegedly bleeding profusely from a wound on the forehead believed to be “a cut from a sharp razor blade.”

Supreme Court Petitioned

Following this, a lawyer and law lecturer, Justice Abdullai filed a case against the Attorney General calling on the Supreme Court to interpret Articles 102 and 104 of the 1992 Constitution and declare the action of Mr Osei Owusu as unconstitutional.

He had also wanted the Supreme Court to declare the whole proceedings in Parliament on November 30, 2021, which led to the passage of the 2022 budget as unconstitutional insisting the Deputy Speaker should not have counted himself as an MP when he presided over proceedings.

Landmark

Adjudicating the case, a seven member panel of the Supreme Court, by a unanimous decision ruled that the Deputy Speaker does not lose his right to take part in decision-making upon a true and proper interpretation of Article 103 and 104 of the 1992 Constitution.

The court, therefore, held that the passing of the budget on November 30, 2021 in which Joe Osei Owusu, the First Deputy Speaker counted himself as part of the quorum, was valid.

Also, the court has struck down order 109(3) of the standing orders of Parliament which prevented a deputy speaker presiding from voting, as unconstitutional.

Controversial Ruling

Hours after that landmark ruling some political watchers including a US-based Ghanaian lawyer and scholar, Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare, wondered how a referee can be a player of an opposing side at the same time and would have preferred the Supreme Court declined jurisdiction on the controversial case of voting rights for deputy speakers.

“How can a referee be a player of an opposing side at the same time? Who’ll respect such a referee? The deputy speakers would lose respect and control once they become part of the game as a referee. All the arms of government are wholly independent as enshrined in the constitution and so we should dare not politicise the constitution of Ghana. That is so wrong,” he fumed.

Speaker IS Referee, Deputy Speaker "Interested Party"

But speaking on Okay Fm's "Ade Akye Abia" prograame, Lawyer Gary Nimako pointed out that a deputy speaker of parliament is "an interested party" but a speaker of parliament "is a referee" who is "known to be neutral because he does not belong to any of the political divide in parliament."

"Parliament has the mandate of the constitution to make rules or standing orders to help them work appropriately and accordingly, but when you make these rules, you should ensure that those rules do not in any way become inconsistent with any provision of the constitution or does not affect the work of the member of parliament.

"The Supreme Court has the power to thrash or rule out any law or standing order of parliament that will seem to hinder the work of parliament of the deputy speaker. In that regard it is considered as null and void," he clarified

He noted that "what some people are refusing to understand is the deputy speaker is a member of parliament who equally has the right to vote before any other thing even as deputy speaker that is why the supreme court has ruled out that provision in their standing order that forbids MPs who act as deputy speaker to vote. It is just as simple as that."

On March 9, 2022, the Court, presided over by Justice Jones Dotse, ruled that a Deputy Speaker can be counted during the formation of a quorum for parliamentary decision-making and participate in voting while presiding over the parliamentary business.


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