A nine-member Supreme Court panel presided over by Chief Justice Gertrude Torkonoo has dismissed a request that it halts Parliament’s consideration of the anti-gay bill.
The court says it has not been convinced to issue such an order at this stage since the matters raised will be dealt with in the substantive case.
This is the court’s decision in a case filed by researcher Dr Amanda Odoi who is alleging parliament’s work on the proposed law is in breach of the constitution.
The court on Wednesday heard legal arguments on the issue of whether the case should be put on hold. The Speaker of Parliament was not present himself but his legal team was led by Thaddeus Sory.
Lawyers for Dr Odoi were the first to address the court. Lead counsel Dr Ernest Ako insisted it was important for the court to put the consideration in parliament on hold.
“Per the nature of the provision of article 108…assuming this bill goes through and becomes law and money is expended from the consolidated fund, we would not get the money back meanwhile Ghanaians would not get the millions that would have been spent on this law.”
“If the application is granted and Parliament does not proceed and the substantive matter is determined, parliament would just have suffered a little by not proceeding with the bill in the interim,” he stated.
Dr Odoi is one of two citizens who have sued the Speaker of Parliament and the Attorney General over the Anti-LGBT bill.
She contends her checks show that the Speaker of Parliament has been served with all relevant court processes including one asking the court to place an injunction on parliament’s consideration of the law. She says despite this, the Speaker caused the Bill to proceed to its Second Reading in Parliament.