The current impasse between Parliament and the Presidency, though triggered by the President’s call on Parliament to desist from submitting the anti-LGBTQ+ bill, largely stemmed from the President’s unwillingness to assent to Private Member Bills (PMBs) emanating from the floors of Parliament.
The first Private Member’s Bill, the Road Traffic (Amendment) Act, 2020 (Act 1054), was passed by the Seventh Parliament on December 29, 2020. This law amended the Road Traffic Act, 2004 (Act 683) to proscribe acts that constitute dangerous driving that result in the injury or death of the human fetus.
While the Parliament of Ghana was able to have a private member bill passed for the first time, the Parliament over the last four years has been unable to get any more Private Member Bills passed. Currently, many such bills are hanging and awaiting the President’s assent.
These bills include the Anti-Witchcraft Allegation Bill, Criminal Offences (Amendment) Bill, Earmarked Funds Capping and Realignment (Amendment) Bill, 2022, and the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, 2021 among others.
The President’s refusal to assent to these Private Member Bills and his recent instruction to the Parliament to desist from transmitting the anti-LGBTQ+ bill to his office shows his reservations and his unwillingness to sign Private Member Bills. Accordingly, the reasons he gives for his refusal to sign PMBs are often not substantial.
“There is a deliberate attempt from the Presidency to shut down this opportunity of Private Member Bills if you look at his previous refusal to sign or veto private member bills. For the first bill [the Anti-witchcraft Allegations Bill], he simply said he liked the bill but it was introduced by a private member so he doesn’t think he would sign it.”
Dr. Justice Srem-Sai
Though PMBs are a new phenomenon in the Ghanaian Parliament, they have been present in parliaments across some Commonwealth nations –of which Ghana is a member– such as Kenya, Nigeria, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, India, and Norway.
The advantage of having PMBs as a source of laws in Parliament is that it asserts the role of the Legislative arm of government as a law-making body. The presence of PMBs also allows Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and other private bodies to participate actively in the law-making process.
Building Unity And Capacity
Accordingly, PMBs build cohesion among Legislators in both the minority and the majority caucuses as a sponsor of a bill needs the support of other Members of Parliament to pass the bill. This also improves the capacity of MPs as they have the opportunity to fully participate in law-making from its inception.
“So, you don’t only go to Parliament to contribute to laws introduced by the Executive. But, by yourself, you can introduce laws that can have a wide impact on the nation”.
Hon. Francis Xavier Sosu
The President’s present refusal to assent to PMBs emanating from Parliament is therefore worrying as it denigrates the success the country has chalked as a burgeoning democracy.
Accordingly, the inability of Parliament to have PMBs passed into law prevents the country from benefiting from the dividends of PMBs.
The most important merit derived from enacting Private Member Bills is the autonomy of Parliament it establishes. Asserting the autonomy of Parliament is asserting the needs and desires of the general public above all other needs as Parliament is the representation of the people.
When the general public is properly represented and its needs take precedence in all government business, then a country can be said to have achieved a true democracy; for the truism of any democracy is its ability to purely reflect the will of its people.
Conclusively, while on the surface the present tussle between Parliament and the Presidency seems like a series of actions for tit-for-tat, rooted deeply in Parliament’s reaction is the need to assert its legislative power through opposing any counter-power that aims to limit Parliament’s ability to make and pass laws.
The President’s disposition toward Private Member Bills therefore will be unacceptable to Parliament as it undermines the core mandate of the legislative body.
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