GhanaPoliticsOnline.Com
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has expressed his dissatisfaction with the High Court’s decision to hear the criminal case of James Gyakye Quayson, the Member of Parliament-elect for the Assin North Constituency, on a daily basis, insisting “It is not right”.
“I tell them, and I tell the judges, it is not right. If it is done to everybody, I have no problem, but if it is done selectively, I have a problem.”
The Speaker’s comments come as Tsatsu Tsikata, lead counsel for Mr Gyakye Quayson, yesterday went to the Court of Appeal, Criminal Division, challenging the daily trial order for his client by an Accra High Court judge, Justice Mary Yanzuh.
A portion of his affidavit, said the ruling of the court had taken a political turn with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo making prejudicial comments on the back of the ruling.
The move by Mr Tsikata and the other lawyers, is to ensure that the MP-elect gets a fair trial in the criminal case he is facing.
Mr Bagbin, a lawyer by profession, had described the decision as selective, pointing out that it is unfair to subject Gyakye Quayson to a daily trial, while others are not facing the same treatment.
During a visit to the office of Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL) in Accra yesterday, Mr Bagbin emphasized the importance of upholding the rule of law and stated that the current approach seems to be “rule by law” rather than “rule of law.”
The meeting with management and the editorial staff
The Speaker’s working visit to Graphic was to interact with management and staff at the editorial department.
It is the first official visit of the Speaker to a media organisation since he was elected Speaker of Parliament on January 7, 2021. This is aligned with the Speaker’s desire to strengthen Parliament-Media Relations.
“What we are doing is rule by law, not rule of law, and I think that we should move away from that. For democracy to succeed, the pillar is the rule of law. I tell them, and I tell the judges, it is not right. If it is done to everybody, I have no problem but if it is done selectively, I have a problem.”
“The law is not the centre of democracy, that is one of the errors in our [1992] constitution, read through our constitution and you’ll see the law is a respecter of so many people.
