Letter from Office of the President to Parliament’s Clerk Lacks Merit: Razak Kojo Opoku Writes
A letter dated 18th March, 2024 signed by Nana Bediatuo Asante (Secretary to the President) under the headline, “Transmission of the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill 2024” addressed to the Clerk to Parliament completely lack merits and sound logical arguments.
The letter is full of distortions and twisted facts.
First and foremost, I would like to remind the Office of the President, Nana Bediatuo Asante and the Attorney-General that:
1. The Supreme Court has thrown out the injunction application filed by Dr. Amanda Odoi. The application for interlocutory injunction as well as the substantive application for contempt of court to stop the Speaker of Parliament from proceeding with the passage of the “Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill 2024” was completely dismissed by a nine-member Supreme Court panel presided over by the Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo.
Therefore, it is completely erroneous for Nana Bediatuo Asante to cite the dismissed case of “Dr. Amanda Odoi v. The Speaker of Parliament and The Attorney-General (J1/13/2023) to make an unjustified and unreasonable excuse for President Nana Akufo-Addo.
2. It is also a settled law that an interlocutory injunction or exparte injunction is not in perpetuity. Whatever interlocutory injunction preventing President Akufo-Addo from signifying his assent to the Bill will one day come to an end.
The main purpose of interlocutory injunction is to protect an applicant from damage which he or she could not be adequately compensated for if the defendant were to continue the action, and also to preserve the equitable rights or identifiable legal rights which may be enforced if the applicant is successful in a final judgment.
This will beg the question of how the plaintiffs in the two lawsuits against the bill stand to be affected should it be signed into Law by President Akufo-Addo?
But moving from that, has the Supreme Court granted the applications sought by Richard Dela Sky restraining President Akufo-Addo from receiving or assenting to the Bill?
Therefore, the argument put forward by Nana Bediatuo Asante citing the case of Richard Sky v. The Parliament of Ghana and The Attorney-General(J1/9/2024) lack legal honesty.
3. Per the letter signed by Nana Bediatuo Asante, many well-meaning Ghanaians will be asking if Dr. Amanda Odoi’s case and Richard Dela Sky’s lawsuit are legal tactics, antics and strategies deployed by the Office of the President to prevent President Akufo-Addo from assenting to the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, 2024 (also known as Anti-LGBTQ+ Bill)?
Right from the onset till now, President Akufo-Addo has shown absolutely NO cooperation, commitment and support for the Anti-LGBTQ+ Bill passed by Parliament.
This is indeed a worry to the electoral fortunes of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in this year election and future elections.
The President is indeed doing everything possible to please the international and diplomatic community at the detriment of the interest of Ghanaians who voted for him to become President of the Republic of Ghana.
Since Dr. Amanda Odoi’s injunction has been dismissed by the Supreme Court, the only hope of the Office of the President is the one filed by Richard Sky.
What would President Akufo-Addo do if the Supreme Court also dismisses the application of injunction filed by Richard Sky?
Will he now cooperate with the Parliament of Ghana or there will be another unreasonable sponsored suit to further restrain the President from signing the Bill?
4. The IMF Boss is in town. Was the letter intended to satisfy the ego of the IMF Boss?
The E-levy was signed by President Akufo-Addo while there was an interlocutory application before the Supreme Court.
Mr. Bediatuo Asante, please, the next time you take a pen and paper to write always note that there are some equally excellent and top-notch writers in the country. Also think about the implications for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) before you write anything in relation to the Anti-LGBTQ+.
The government is for Nana Akufo-Addo but the New Patriotic Party (NPP) DOES NOT belong to the Office of the President.
