News
Vacant Seats: Supreme Court halts Speaker’s ruling
The Supreme Court has today granted a 10-day stay of execution of the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin’s ruling that declared the seats of four Members of Parliament (MPs) vacant yesterday.
In addition to granting the application filed by the New Patriotic Party MPs, the court directed the Speaker and Attorney General to file their statement of case in the October 15 suit, filed by Afenyo-Markin, within seven days.
This follows a motion filed by former Minority Leader and Member of Parliament for Tamale South, Haruna Iddrisu.
He argued that the MPs, who are seeking to contest the upcoming December elections as independent candidates, must renounce their parliamentary positions as outlined in the constitutional provisions governing parliamentary membership.
The affected MPs are Cynthia Morrison (Agona West), Kojo Asante (Suhum), Andrew Asiamah (Fomena), and Peter Kwakye Ackah (Amenfi Central).
The decision by the Supreme Court halts the execution of the Speaker Bagbin’s ruling pending further legal review.
Speaking to the media after what he termed as victory, the Majority leader, Alexander Afenyo Markin said “this is NPP, the founders of the tradition used the court to settle issues rather than violence, we came to court believing that the court will do right and indeed, the court has done just that.”
He said by this ruling the right of those MPs have been reinforced as well as the right of those constituents who elected them.
Afenyo Markin thanked the NPP MPs for supporting him throughout last night to put together a solid case before the court.
He charged the NDC who are claiming majority to meet them in court.
The case was heard by a panel of Supreme Court justices, presided over by Chief Justice Gertrude Torkonoo. The panel also included Justice Mariama Owusu, Justice Kwame Adibu Asiedu, Justice Ernest Yao Gaewu, and Justice Yaw Darko Asare.
NPP MPs were represented by lawyers Paa Kwesi Abaidoo and former Attorney General Joe Ghartey.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
The family of Ambassador James Victor Gbeho, a distinguished statesman and diplomat, has paid a courtesy call on President John Dramani Mahama. They officially informed him of his passing.
The delegation, representing the Gbeho family, noted that it was culturally and diplomatically important to formally notify the President of the loss before making a public announcement of his death.
Ambassador Gbeho was a towering figure in Ghanaian and international politics. He served in many diplomatic missions, including New York. He was Ghana’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, a Member of Parliament for the Anlo constituency, and President (formerly Executive Secretary) of the ECOWAS Commission.
He was widely respected for his role in regional integration and his contributions to global diplomacy at the United Nations.
President Mahama expressed his condolences and shared reflections on Ambassador Gbeho’s contributions to the country, West Africa and the world.
Funeral details will be announced later.
The Minister for the Interior, Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak, has revoked all firearm permits in Ghana with immediate effect and announced a new registration process for all gun owners.
The minister made the announcement on Tuesday, June 23, at the information service department saying all individuals who currently hold licences to own firearms or sidearms must undergo a fresh registration process.
“From this afternoon, all permits that have been granted to any individual that you are holding a sidearm or firearm is hereby revoked,” Mr Muntaka said.
He explained that the government had identified gaps in the country’s firearm registration system and needed to introduce stricter measures to improve public safety.
“We are opening the window where everyone will have to come forward again to register or re-register the gun because we’ve changed the procedure,” he stated.
According to him, the government decided not to wait until the end of the year to make the changes because lives could still be saved within the next six months.
The Interior Minister said one of the new requirements would be mandatory mental health screening for applicants seeking firearm licences.
“We’ve seen that people with mental health have already gone through and have the sidearm. Now we are introducing mental health. Before we give you the sidearm, we have to be sure that you have the mental stability to hold the firearms,” he said.
Mr Muntaka also announced that applicants would be required to undergo drug tests before being granted licences.
“We’ve also realised that people who are on drugs are also holding their arms and they are legitimate because it’s been registered. Now you have to go through drug tests to be sure that you are not on drugs before you can hold sidearms,” he added.
The minister said the new measures form part of efforts by the government to tighten firearm control and prevent legally registered weapons from falling into the wrong hands.
He urged all firearm owners to cooperate with the new registration process once details of the exercise are announced.
By: Jacob Aggrey
