<<Print>>

Former Member of Parliament for Upper Denkyira West, Ben Aryeh has taken a swipe at former President John Dramani Mahama over his remarks on the Supreme Court verdict on the right of the Deputy Speaker in Parliament to vote while acting as Speaker.

A seven member panel of the Supreme Court, on Wednesday, March 9, settled the issue as they ruled that a "Deputy Speaker is entitled to be counted as a member of Parliament for quorum" and can "vote and take part in the decision of parliament".

Up untill the court ruling, this had been a contentious issue between the Minority and Majority in Parliament as each side stood by their arguments on whether or not a Deputy Speaker, acting as Speaker, remains a Member of Parliament to exercise a right to vote during proceedings.

This controversy among the members even resulted in heated wrestle last year when the Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei Owusu, sitting in for the Speaker who had taken a medical leave; decided to hand over his seat to the Second Deputy Speaker in order to participate in a voting on the 2022 budget, particularly on the much-disputed e-levy proposal by the Akufo-Addo government.

The court verdict therefore comes to legitimize the Deputy Speaker's action.

However, Ex-President John Mahama has objected to the verdict.

He finds the ruling "shocking but not surprising" and fears the highest court of the land is setting a "dangerous precedent of judicial interference in Parliamentary procedure for the future".

But Ben Aryeh vehemently dissents to the position of the Ex-President.

Hon. Ben Aryeh held that the Supreme Court has done nothing wrong but served the people of Ghana with the right verdict.

He noted that, contrary to Mr. Mahama's fears of the court setting a dangerous precedent, the Apex Court has rather acted in accordance with the constitution, so he doesn't see any turbulence arising in the future as a result of the ruling as the former President would have Ghanaians to believe.

''We have a Speaker who takes an oath as the Speaker. He is the only person who takes such oath. All other members of the House swear the oath of Members of Parliament including those who, temporarily, assume the role of the Speaker. When they assume that role, they don't swear any oath as the Speaker. That is why they don't retire on their Speaker's benefit or like the Speaker who retires on his salary and what have you. The Members of Parliament who act as Deputies are treated as Members of Parliament and that is it'', he affirmed on PeaceFM's "Kokrokoo" show, Friday.

He therefore asked Mr. Mahama; ''Why should chaos be part of your vocabulary when, like I said from the beginning, as human beings; we have decided on ways to resolve our differences? Are we placing aside and use disorder? Is that an alternative that should come to mind?''

He cautioned the former President to refrain from making such statements emphasizing ''that should not be even an alternative''.