The Criminal Offense Amendment Bill 2022, also referred to as the Anti-Witchcraft Bill has failed to receive presidential assent from President Akufo-Addo since its passage by Parliament in July 2023 as it is required by the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.
The bill which was a private member bill sponsored by the Madina Member of Parliament, Honorable Francis Xavier Sosu with the main purpose of stopping attacks on alleged witches and prohibiting any persons from operating as a witch ‘doctor’ or a ‘witch-finder’ is in limbo as communications between Parliament and the Jubilee House appear very unclear.
While the Minority Leader, Honorable Dr Cassiel Ato Forson described President Akufo-Addo’s refusal to assent the bill into law after its passage by Parliament as a disregard and non-compliance of the laws of the country, the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Honorable Alban Kingsford Sumani Bagbin on the other hand has expressed his disappointment towards President Akufo-Addo’s silence over the assent of the bill.
According to the Speaker of Parliament, President Akufo-Addo has failed to communicate officially to Parliament for his inability to assent the bill into law as required by the 1992 constitution.
“At several events, the president, during the recess, indicated to me verbally that he wants to discuss something with me. That is all. He didn’t talk specifically about the bill. It is the Majority Leader who spoke to me about the bill, stating that he has sight of it and saw that what has been compiled has problems. So I directed the clerk at the table to go through the deliberations of the house to see if they were the ones that had been captured”.
Rt. Honorable Alban Kingsford Sumani Bagbin
That notwithstanding, the Majority Leader and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Honorable Osei Kyei Mensa-Bonsu has refuted claims by the Minority Leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson that President Akufo-Addo’s failure to assent the Anti-Witchcraft Bill into law is a breach of the 1992 constitution.
The Suame Lawmaker further explained that the Anti-Witchcraft Bill which was passed by Parliament in July this year has not been sent to President Akufo-Addo for his assent due to some anomalies identified later after its passage, hence the decision to rectify such anomalies before the bill is sent to the President for his assent.
“Mr. Speaker, what happened, I have had cause to discuss this. After the passage of the bill, going through it, we saw major issues. That is from parliament itself and also informed the president that there are issues with the bill, which prompted him to indicate that he then has to have conversations with the speaker. Unfortunately, at the time, the speaker was unavailable, and when the Speaker came, the President was also unavailable. As for the president assenting to the bill, it can easily be done”.
Honorable Osei Kyei Mensah- Bonsu
It is important to note that the relationship between Parliament and the President in terms of bill passage and assent is a crucial aspect of the legislative process in many countries. This relationship is often defined by the constitutional framework of a given nation.
In Ghana, Article 106 of the 1992 Constitution stipulates the procedures under which a bill is assent into law. Once Parliament passes a bill, it is often sent to the President for approval and in instances where the President disagrees with the bill or any section of the bill he writes to Parliament and indicates the specific provisions he disagrees including his recommendations for amendments if any or refers the bill to the Council of State for its consideration.
Thus, the relationship between Parliament and the President is designed to maintain a system of checks and balances. For instance, while the President can influence legislation through assent or veto, Parliament has the authority to override a veto or modify a bill to address presidential concerns.
From the foregoing, it is undoubted that what has become the roadblock to the presidential assent of the Anti-Witchcraft Bill by President Akufo-Addo is basically due to a lack of communication between Parliament and Jubilee House.
It is therefore imperative that the two groups undertake steps to address such a communication problem to ensure that President Akufo-Addo assent the Anti-Witchcraft Bill into law for the effective functioning of Ghana’s constitutional order.
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