‘You can’t hold law-abiding Akufo-Addo to ransom’ – Atta Akyea tells Bagbin

Member of Parliament (MP) for Abuakwa South, Samuel Atta Akyea, has emphasized that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo cannot be held to ransom for being law-abiding.

Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin has pledged to uphold Ghana’s sovereignty and democracy, warning against any attempts by the government to undermine it.

Bagbin’s firm stance follows a letter from President Akufo-Addo, dated March 18, 2024, instructing Parliament not to forward the anti-gay bill for his assent.

In a Facebook post, Bagbin criticized the President, affirming Parliament’s commitment to safeguarding Ghana’s democracy. He stated, “The Parliament of Ghana under my leadership will resist any affront on the democracy of Ghana. We will not allow a government to undermine the sovereign will of the people expressed through their representatives.”

In an interview with Selorm Adonoo on Citi FM’s Eyewitness News, Atta Akyea argued that even if the President had erred, there was no constitutional provision violated by his letter to Parliament.

“The speaker believes that the president’s letter is an affront to the dignity of parliament and Mr. Speaker is also of the view that that amounts to contempt, the president cannot bring such a letter to parliament and because of that if the president is trying to respect the injunctive processes in the Supreme Court that is up to the president but that is an affront to parliament, most of us believe that that cannot be the case at all.”

“A law-abiding, law-respecting president cannot be held to ransom. Even if he has made an error, you cannot find anywhere in the constitution that the president has violated. There is no provision in the constitution that offends against the letters from the office of the president,” he stated.

—CitiNewsroom