Richard Dela Sky
A writ filed by broadcast journalist, Richard Dela Sky, seeking to set aside the action of the Majority New Patriotic Party (NPP) Members of Parliament in approving the 2022 Budget and Economic Policy of Government has been declared as moot by the Supreme Court.
This was after the court held that its earlier decision in the case brought by private legal practitioner and lecturer, Justice Abdulai, on the right of a Deputy Speaker voting while presiding in the absence of the Speaker, substantially addressed the issues raised by the writ.
Broadcast journalist, Richard Dela Sky, filed a writ invoking the original jurisdiction of the court challenging the decision of the Majority NPP, to vote to rescind the rejection of the budget by the Minority NDC.
The proceeding to approve the budget was presided over by the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joseph Osei-Owusu, in the absence of NDC MPs and the Speaker, Alban Bagbin, who had travelled out of the country for a medical review.
The writ was filed following divergent views on the rejection of the budget on one hand by 137 NDC MPs and on the other hand the reversal of the rejection by 138 NPP MPs, including the First Deputy Speaker who doubles as MP for Bekwai.
Drama unfolded when the Minority NDC decided to stay out of the chamber, as the Majority Caucus, the NPP, annulled the earlier rejection of the budget by the NDC, and subsequently approved the same budget in November last year.
Richard Sky’s writ was challenging the decision by Mr. Osei-Owusu to vote in the determination that led to the approval of the budget when he presided over the affairs in the absence of the Speaker.
It sought a declaration that upon a true and proper interpretation of Articles 95(1), 96(1), and 104(1), any time a Deputy Speaker or any other person presides over Parliament in the absence of the Speaker, that person forfeits the right to be counted as part of the Members of Parliament present for the determination of a matter.
It also sought an order to set aside the decision of the 138 NPP MPs which approved the budget in the absence of the Speaker on November 30, 2021.
A seven-member panel of the court presided over by Justice Jones Dotse and assisted by Justices Nene Amegatcher, Avril Lovelace Johnson, Gertrude Torkornoo, Henrietta Mensah-Bonsu and Yonni Kulendi declared the case moot, because the Justice Abdulai case had dealt with the issues, and there was no need to give a different judgment on it.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak