Committee, Ranking Member of Parliament’s Employment, Social Welfare, and State Enterprises Committee, Dr. Kwabena Donkor, has openly criticised the Supreme Court’s recent dismissal of Speaker Alban Bagbin’s application.

Speaker Bagbin had filed to overturn an earlier ruling preventing him from declaring four parliamentary seats vacant.

The Supreme Court’s ruling, delivered on Wednesday, October 30, upheld its prior decision, effectively barring Speaker Bagbin from proceeding with the seat declarations and preserving the current occupants.

In an interview on Citi FM’s Eyewitness News with Selorm Adonoo, Dr. Donkor accused the Supreme Court of prioritising political considerations over legal principles.

He took particular issue with the Chief Justice’s stance that the court’s decision aimed to prevent leaving thousands of constituents temporarily unrepresented if the Speaker’s declarations were upheld.

The Chief Justice argued in her ruling that maintaining current representation was crucial, as declaring the seats vacant would leave constituencies without parliamentary voice until by-elections could be held.

Dr. Donkor challenged this reasoning, calling it inconsistent and pointing to the people of Santrokofi, Akpafu, Likpe, and Lolobi (SALL), who have been without representation in Parliament since the 2020 elections due to administrative and boundary issues.

He argued that the court’s position on representation fails to address the ongoing disenfranchisement of the SALL communities, highlighting a selective application of the principle of representation.

He also questioned the impartiality of the court’s decisions, expressing concern over the judiciary’s role in ensuring fair and democratic representation for all Ghanaians.

“The decision is not a legal one but a political one. I have also stated that this particular Supreme Court is more political than legal.

If you listened to the argument of the Chief Justice in her ruling that thousands of Ghanaians will not have representation if the ruling of the Speaker is not stayed, it is the most flawed reasoning I have heard in Ghana’s political economy.

“It is flawed because Parliament, per its calendar, will be rising in two weeks from today. And also, the people of SALL have been without representation, and they are not Ghanaians.”