The Minority in Parliament has admonished the Attorney-General (A-G), Godfred Yeboah Dame, to prioritise the interest of the state rather entangling the position with extreme partisanship.
Dr. Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, Leader of the Minority, in a statement issued on behalf of the group Monday, March 25, 2024, noted the attitude of the A-G reinforces the call for the decoupling of the Office of the Attorney General from the Ministry of Justice.
The comments come on the back of an “advice” from the A-G to the Speaker of Parliament, asking him to rescind his decision not to approve the ministerial nominees of President Akufo-Addo.
Mr. Dame had said the Speaker could not have taken that decision when the said suit he used as his basis had not been filed at the time.
The statement said the A-G’s advice to Mr. Bagbin rather vindicates the Rt. Hon. Speaker on his decision to “upholding the pendency of a relief for an interlocutory injunction in the matter of Rockson-Nelson K. Etse Defeamekpor v. The Speaker of Parliament and the Attorney-General, in relation to the approval of the President’s nominees for Ministerial and Deputy Ministerial appointments by the Parliament.”
The group called on Mr. Dame to act as Minister of Justice and stop playing politics and disrespecting the Rt. Hon. Speaker.
“The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr. Godfred Dame needs nobody to tell him to stop exposing himself by the unwarranted attacks on the Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliament. Mr. Dame has demonstrated time without number that he cannot prioritise the national interest over his party’s parochial and self-serving interest. Consistently, he behaves like a regime lawyer and constantly displays arrogance and unbridled partisanship in the discharge of his duties.
“If there ever was a time that decoupling the position of the Attorney-General from that of the Minister of Justice was pressing and relevant, it is now. Clearly, the conduct of Hon. Godfred Dame as Attorney-General and Minister of Justice epitomises all that is inherently wrong in keeping both positions in the same person,” the statement contained in some portions.
The statement proceeded that the A-G’s advice which sought to criticise the Speaker for taking a cue from an action taken by the President upon the A-G’s own counsel, shows how Mr. Dame ill-advised the President.
The Minority says unlike Mr. Akufo-Addo who acted on a suit which was yet to be filed in court, Mr. Bagbin took the decision to suspend the approval of the newly appointed ministers based on an injunctive relief, a copy of which had been served the Speaker.
“The Attorney-General’s claim that Mr. Speaker erred because there was no injunction in respect of the above-named suit is not borne out by the facts. The Speaker of Parliament rather stands vindicated in his decision to err on the side of caution, in view of the expressed injunctive relief that had been stated in the writ of summons, a copy of which was duly served on the Rt. Hon. Speaker on the 19th of March, 2024. By law, the plaintiff had 14 days to file a statement of case and an application for interlocutory injunction from the day that the Writ of Summons was issued,” the statement added.
Find below the full statement from the Minority:
PRESS STATEMENT
ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S ADVICE VINDICATES SPEAKER OF PARLIAMENT
Our attention has been drawn to an “advice” from the office of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice dated 21st March, 2024, addressed to the Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliament.
In the said advice, the Attorney-General, Mr. Godfred Yeboah Dame, questioned the well-reasoned decision of the Rt. Hon. Speaker Alban Bagbin in upholding the pendency of a relief for an interlocutory injunction in the matter of Rockson-Nelson K. Etse Defeamekpor v. The Speaker of Parliament and the Attorney-General, in relation to the approval of the President’s nominees for Ministerial and Deputy Ministerial appointments by the Parliament.
It is worth noting that whereas the Attorney-General in the letter to the Speaker purported to fault the Speaker’s ruling in the issue referenced above, he rather vindicated the position taken by the Rt. Hon. Speaker who merely took a cue from a precedent that was set by President Akufo-Addo based on an “advice” from this same Attorney-General.
The Attorney-General’s claim that Mr. Speaker erred because there was no injunction in respect of the above-named suit is not borne out by the facts. The Speaker of Parliament rather stands vindicated in his decision to err on the side of caution, in view of the expressed injunctive relief that had been stated in the writ of summons, a copy of which was duly served on the Rt. Hon. Speaker on the 19th of March, 2024. By law, the plaintiff had 14 days to file a statement of case and an application for interlocutory injunction from the day that the Writ of Summons was issued.
On the contrary, it would be recalled that President Akufo-Addo informed members of the Diplomatic Corps at a meeting at the Peduase Lodge on 4th March, 2024, of a supposed court case at the Supreme Court. The President even went on to state that he was restrained by the filing of a Writ of Summons from assenting to the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill.
It turned out that as of the time that the President was speaking to members of the Diplomatic Corps on the 4th of March, 2024, the writ had not yet been filed in the Supreme Court. The writ was subsequently filed on 5th March, 2024.
If we may ask, between the Rt. Hon. Speaker ,who was served with a writ of summons, and the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who acted on the advice of the same Attorney-General on an injunction from a non-existent writ, which of them showed fidelity to the law? The answer obviously is the Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliament.
The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr. Godfred Dame needs nobody to tell him to stop exposing himself by the unwarranted attacks on the Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliament. Mr. Dame has demonstrated time without number that he cannot prioritise the national interest over his party’s parochial and self-serving interest. Consistently, he behaves like a regime lawyer and constantly displays arrogance and unbridled partisanship in the discharge of his duties.
If there ever was a time that decoupling the position of the Attorney-General from that of the Minister of Justice was pressing and relevant, it is now. Clearly, the conduct of Hon. Godfred Dame as Attorney-General and Minister of Justice epitomises all that is inherently wrong in keeping both positions in the same person.
END
HON. CASSIEL ATO FORSON (Ph.D.), MP.
MINORITY LEADER
MONDAY, 25TH MARCH, 2024
ACCRA
