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It’s improper to strike out an Act without consulting us – Speaker to Supreme Court on cannabis ruling
Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin has expressed his displeasure with the Supreme Court ruling which struck out the law granting license to grow cannabis in Ghana.
The Apex court in July 2022 struck out section 43 which enables the Minister to give license to individuals for the cultivation of cannabis for medicinal and industrial purposes.
According to the Speaker, the Apex court was wrong to carry out the ruling without verifying the right process and procedure a bill goes through before it is enacted.
“I hope the three arms of government will work together and respect each other. In case of doubt, it’s important to consult the other arm before giving finality to whatever decision the other arm wants to take.
“I do not think it was proper for the Judiciary without knowing how we conduct our business here, really go into how we conduct the business and make such important decisions without consulting the House. That is improper,” he said in Parliament on June 6, 2023.
Meanwhile, the speaker has referred the bill to the Committee of Defense and Interior for consideration.
The committee is expected to come up with the right provision needed to re-enact the law.
Mr. Bagbin added that the matter was of importance to him. He has therefore given the Committee a week to work on the report.
Also, Interior Minister Ambrose Dery described the Supreme Court’s ruling as a grievous error.
He said “to therefore say section 43 is unconstitutional because there was no debate in my humble opinion is a grievous error.”
The Nandom MP continued that the bill does not seek to legalise the recreational use of cannabis but to allow the Minister to issue licenses to people who can produce at 0.3% THC.
He added that the legislation was to help government take a modern approach and allow for industrial and medicinal use of cannabis
Meanwhile, the government has introduced the same section which the Supreme Court struck out as an amendment in Parliament.
In August 2022, the Supreme Court said Parliament did not act transparently in the passage of the Narcotics Control Commission Act.
Specific reference was made to portions of the law (Section 43) which permitted the cultivation of cannabis for medicinal and industrial purposes.
The court on July 27 declared this provision unconstitutional. The entire decision of the highest court has since been released.
Source: Myjoyonline
The Member of Parliament for Nsawam Adoagyiri, Frank Annoh Dompreh, has expressed concern over delays in the release of the District Assemblies Common Fund, warning that the situation is stalling development across the country.
On his facebook page, he described as a matter of urgent national importance, the Minority Chief Whip pointed to what he sees as a growing crisis of unpaid contractors, abandoned projects, and halted infrastructure works in many districts.
He noted that several communities are grappling with half completed schools, unfinished health facilities, abandoned markets, deteriorating roads, and stalled sanitation projects.
According to him, many contractors who have executed projects for district assemblies have not been paid, forcing some construction firms to demobilise from sites while workers lose their jobs.
He stressed that the District Assemblies Common Fund is not a discretionary allocation but a constitutional requirement under Article 252 of the 1992 Constitution, intended to support development at the local level.
In his view, years of delayed releases and accumulated arrears have weakened district development financing and disrupted projects meant to improve living conditions in communities.
He further argued that some payments made in recent years were largely the settlement of old debts rather than funding for new or ongoing projects, a situation he believes has affected contractor confidence and local economic activity.
He described the issue as more than a budgetary challenge, characterising it as a development emergency and a governance concern.
He therefore urged the appropriate authorities to pay outstanding DACF arrears, settle contractors who have completed their work, and ensure that transfers to districts are automatic and predictable.
He maintained that decentralisation can only succeed when district assemblies receive adequate and timely funding to carry out development projects.
He emphasised that stalled projects directly affect ordinary citizens, since they rely on such infrastructure for education, healthcare, transportation, sanitation, and economic activities.
He called for renewed attention to grassroots development, insisting that national progress should not be concentrated only in major cities but extended to all communities.
By: Jacob Aggrey
Richard Appiah, the footballer who killed two children and stored part of their bodies in a fridge at Abesim in the Bono Region in 2021 has been handed a lifetime sentence.
This was after a five member panel of judges at the Accra High Court returned a verdict of guilty against the convict.
Appiah, 32, also a draughtsman would spend the rest of his life in prison after he was convicted of murder.
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BY MALIK SULLEMANA
