Former President John Dramani Mahama has described as disrespectful the letter written to Parliament by Nana Bediatuo Asante who is the Executive Secretary to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
Mr Mahama said the Executive arm of government has no authority to stop Parliament from carrying out its work of remitting a bill unanimously passed by Parliament to the president for him to assent.
Nana Bediatuo Asante in the letter cautioned Parliament against further efforts to transmit the unanimously passed Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill 2024 (popularly known as the anti-gay bill).
According to him the President cannot receive the bill because two writs and applications for injunction had been served on him.
Speaking during his Building the Ghana we want tour of the Oti region, Flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress former President John Dramani Mahama said Nana Bediatuo had no such power to direct Parliament on what to do.
“Every lawyer will tell you that the President’s secretary does not have the power to write such a letter to Parliament.”
“Parliament is a constitutional body, the constitution asks Parliament to send the bill to the president for assent and so you cannot ask Parliament not to do its work, not to remit the bill to the president, you can say you are waiting for the Supreme Court but you can’t write a letter to the clerk that the bill should not be sent to the president. The way and manner the letter was written, it does not show respect to parliament, it creates the impression that he has authority over Parliament, this is not good for governance,” the Flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) said.
The position of the Executive Secretary to President Akufo-Addo was reinforced by the Attorney -General who in publicized advice to the President advised the President against assenting to the bills until the Supreme Court decided the fate of the applications for injunctions issued byRichard Sky and Dr. Amanda Odoi.
Story: Patrick Asford Boadu/Radiogoldlive.com
