Anti-Gay Bill: Akufo-Addo Not Alpha and Omega Under The Constitution – Ayariga

Mahama Ayariga, who represents Bawku Central in Parliament, has spoken out against President Nana Akufo-Addo’s recent handling of the anti-LGBTQ+ bill, accusing it of being unconstitutional.

Ayariga stressed the importance of the president recognizing that the law goes beyond his powers, emphasizing that he isn’t the supreme authority within Ghana’s constitutional framework.

In line with the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin’s decision to halt the confirmation of the president’s new ministers, Mahama Ayariga highlighted the significance of the president acknowledging Parliament’s central role in Ghana’s governance.

During an interview on the Citi Breakfast Show on Citi FM on Thursday, March 21, Mahama Ayariga firmly stated Parliament’s determination to resist whenever the president declines to endorse laws they’ve passed.

“It is important for the president to note that he is not the Alpha and Omega under the constitution. There are coordinate branches of government and they also have their own powers. If we will sit there and labour and pass legislations and bring it to you and you refuse to assent to it, what makes you think that we will also sit there and do your business for you?

“I think that it is also right that we also decide that if we pass legislations and he keeps refusing to assent to them, we won’t also do his business. Separation of Powers requires that the legislature must have the capacity to stand up to the executive to check them, otherwise it is a useless system that we are running.”