Justice Srem Sai, a constitutional lawyer, has said President Akufo-Addo’s posture on the Anti-LGBTQ/Bill has nothing to do with law but a mere strategy to abdicate his responsibility as demanded by the constitution.
He says since the duty with the issue in perspective is time bound, the President is only devising means to delay it until his tenure would be over in order to abstain from acting on it.
Speaking on News Central on TV3 Tuesday, March 19, 2024, Justice Sai stated that what the President is intending to do is obvious, especially knowing that his letter cannot stop the Legislature from performing its role.
“Clearly one thing is obvious from what the President is doing, he does not intend to exercise the power which the Constitution commands him to exercise. That is what is clear. The President has a duty to accept and perform some functions and those functions are time bound.
“There is a time limit for the performance of those functions. What is clear from whatever the President is doing now is that he does not want to perform his duty as President of the Republic which is really very troubling because he is trying to shift that duty to the force to perform for him. Is the President’s letter that he has written to Parliament expected to prevent the Legislature from carrying out what many believe is a constitutional mandate of the Legislature? You need to understand the President’s mindset to know what he is doing,” he reemphasised.
He maintained that “it appears the President is trying to confuse matters in the system to make sure he gets his way and might be out of office by the time the complication is cleared up” adding that “it is distressing to witness this lack of honesty and standoff occurring and it is appears that he is attempting to postpone and frustrate the process rather than actively participating in the court processes.”
“The President doesn’t have any belief that the case is going to succeed. He also doesn’t have any honest belief that the injunction will be granted. What he is doing really is to play politics with the issue,” he added.
Justice Sai’s comments follow a letter from the Executive Secretary to the President, Nana Bediatuo Asante, to the Clerk of Parliament, ordering him to desist from transmitting the Bill to the Presidency for Executive assent.
The Office of the President, pending two Supreme Court applications, asked the House of Parliament to refrain from submitting the Anti-LGBTQ/Gay bill to the Presidency for Executive signature.
The directive follows an alleged attempt by Parliament to transmit the Bill to the Jubilee House after learning the Presidency was in a meeting at the Peduase Lodge.
President Akufo-Addo has noted that until the reliefs in the two matters are interpreted by the apex court, he will not take a decision on the bill.
The applications seek to prevent Parliament from sending the Bill to the President and to restrain the President from signifying his assent to it, pending the final determination of the matter.
In a statement issued by the Secretary to the Parliament Monday, March 18, 2024, Nana Bediatuo Asante, indicated that, Parliament was aware of the two applications since it was served in both instances, and submitting the document for approval or otherwise was not appropriate.
“It is the understanding of this Office that both applications have also been duly served on Parliament. Therefore, it would be improper for you to transmit the Bill to the President and equally improper for this Office to receive the Bill until the Supreme Court determines the matters raised in the suits,” the statement said in some parts.
It added that the Attorney-General also advised the President not to take any action concerning the Bill until the issues raised by the suits are resolved by the Supreme Court.
The Office further stated that it is established law that during the pendency of an interlocutory injunction application, the status quo ante should be maintained, and no action should be taken that could prejudice the injunctive relief sought and undermine the authority of the court.
“In the circumstances, you are kindly requested to cease and desist from transmitting the Bill to the President until the matters before the Supreme Court are resolved,” it added.
By Felix Anim-Appau with additional files from Jazmin Asumadu
