Today, Ghana’s democratic experiment faces a major test. At the heart of the drama is the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, who now stands at a crossroads with a decision that could ruffle feathers in the Judiciary, or earn him applause – depending on which camp you’re in. His task? Deciding whether to stick to his October 17 ruling that declared four parliamentary seats vacant, or yield to the Supreme Court’s directive to freeze his declaration.
Now, let’s rewind to where it all began – the 2020 general elections, where things took an unexpected twist in Parliament. For the first time in Ghana’s political history, the two main parties – the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) – ended up with an equal number of seats, 137 each. Talk about awkward. To make matters worse, the NPP had to cozy up to an independent MP they had previously kicked out to cobble together a shaky majority.
The election of Alban Bagbin as Speaker, who snatched victory for the NDC by the skin of his teeth, was no less chaotic. In a scene fit for a reality show, counting ballots turned into a circus, as emotions ran wild. Since then, Parliament has turned into a battlefield, with both sides fiercely defending their turf. Compromise? What’s that? Even routine votes have become high-stakes standoffs, with the controversial e-levy being a classic example of how far the government was willing to go to win by any means necessary.
Fast-forward to today’s standoff, where the four MPs from Amenfi Central, Suhum, Fomena, and Agona West are in the spotlight. These lawmakers have announced they will contest the 2024 elections as independent candidates, and Bagbin wasted no time in pointing to Ghana’s constitution to back his decision to boot them out. Article 97(1)(g) is quite clear: an MP who leaves their party or seeks to remain in Parliament as an independent should vacate their seat. Speaker Bagbin’s call mirrors a precedent set in 2020 when his predecessor, Prof. Aaron Mike Ocquaye, declared Fomena MP Andrew Asiamah out of the house after he chose the independent route.
However, Bagbin’s move wasn’t without its drama either. The NPP, unsurprisingly, was furious, with their leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin rushing to the Supreme Court to block the Speaker’s decision. Yet, Bagbin took a two-day pause, presumably to sip some tea and ponder his options, before returning on October 17 with the bold announcement that the seats were vacant.
The NPP didn’t take this lying down, filing a case at the Supreme Court the next day. A five-member panel led by Chief Justice Gertrude Torkonoo ruled that the Speaker should’ve pumped the brakes, considering a court case was already in motion. So, they ordered a halt to Bagbin’s ruling until further notice.
Meanwhile, the NDC side has been busy celebrating what they see as their newfound majority in Parliament, and they’ve made it clear they’ll guard this precious status with every trick in the book. They’ve essentially said: “Sorry, Supreme Court, but we only take orders from Bagbin.”
It’s now a waiting game to see how Speaker Bagbin will respond – will he stick to his guns, or bow to the Supreme Court’s wisdom? One thing’s for sure – the plot is only thickening in this latest episode of Ghana’s political soap opera. Stay tuned.