Man Sues Over Bagbin’s Declaration of Four Parliamentary Seats
Legal Battle Ensues as Accra High Court Hears Challenge to Speaker’s Decision
- Benjamin Tetteh Yemoh seeks validation of Speaker Bagbin’s declaration that four Parliamentary seats are vacant
- The lawsuit includes a request to prevent the Speaker from recalling Parliament until related legal matters are resolved
- The case comes after a Supreme Court ruling temporarily suspending the Speaker's declaration
A private citizen, Benjamin Tetteh Yemoh, has initiated legal proceedings at the Accra High Court, aiming to validate Speaker Alban Bagbin’s announcement that four Parliamentary seats are vacant.
Filed on Friday, October 25, 2024, the lawsuit seeks, among other remedies, an injunction preventing the Speaker from recalling Parliament until all related legal matters are resolved.
This move follows the Speaker’s decision on October 22 to indefinitely suspend Parliament, prompted by a Supreme Court ruling that paused his declaration of the vacant seats.
Yemoh argues that the Speaker’s ruling, based on Article 97 (g) and (h) of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution, is constitutionally sound and should be upheld.
In addition, Yemoh is asking the court to bar the affected MPs from attending Parliamentary sessions.
The situation is further complicated by New Patriotic Party Caucus leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin, who has filed a separate memo invoking Article 112 (3) of the Constitution, calling for the urgent recall of Parliament while his own suit against the Speaker’s declaration is pending in the Supreme Court.
