Atta Akyea urges Speaker to apologize for suspending approval of ministerial nominees

Ghanaian

Samuel Atta Akyea, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Abuakwa South, has criticized Speaker Alban Bagbin's decision to suspend the approval of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo's newly nominated ministers, suggesting that an apology would be appropriate for the error.

According to the Speaker, the suspension was prompted by an interlocutory injunction filed at the

Read full articleSupreme Court by the MP for South Dayi, Rockson-Nelson Etse K. Dafeamekpor.

Attorney-General and Minister for Justice Godfred Yeboah Dame argued that Parliament was not barred from continuing with the approval processes for ministerial and deputy ministerial nominees.

He emphasized that there was no risk of prejudice to the Supreme Court's authority if Parliament proceeded with the approval processes, as Dafeamekpor's lawsuit challenged the President's authority to relieve and reassign ministers, not the approval process for new nominees.

However, Atta Akyea expressed alarm at Bagbin's decision, suggesting that an apology from Bagbin would prevent further disruption to government business caused by his misjudgment.

He criticized Bagbin's "fundamental errors" and stated that such errors should be acknowledged to avoid halting government business unnecessarily.

In an interview with Citi News, Atta Akyea stated, “The speaker again does something which is very frightening. The speaker comes out to say that in equal measure as you are respecting the injunctive processes in the Supreme Court, I will also not attend to your nominees and aid you to have them passed for the simple reason that I also have an injunction at the instance of honourable Dafeamekpor pending before the Supreme Court.

“It turns out that that is not true. That is a very serious matter for the simple reason that at the level of intellectual evidence of the speaker, such fundamental errors cannot be committed.”

He added, “So I am of the humble view that when men of renown see palpable errors on their part they should buckle and probably say I am sorry, I think I was misled. So that the business of government will not come to an unfortunate halt because of an obvious error coming from the speaker.

"So, I believe that If I were Mr Speaker, I would eat humble pie and say that the foundation of my action is not valid. There is no injunction restraining the parliament from considering the nominees of the president. Because the Dafeamekpor case relates to a different matter altogether.”