Media personality Nana Yaa Brefo has shared why the Minority Caucus of Ghana's parliament did not show up on time for President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo's 2024 State of the Nation Address.
The president was scheduled to start his address at 10:00 am on Tuesday, February 27, 2024. However, it was delayed.
The entire 137 members of the Minority Caucus were notably absent as the nation anticipated Akufo-Addo's delivery. While the reason for the nonattendance of the National Democratic Congress Members of Parliament (MPs) remained unclear, their counterparts were all present in the chamber.
According to Nana Yaa Brefo, the Minority was peeved by Akufo-Addo's refusal to assent to the Anti-Witchcraft Bill that had been presented to him.
However, it was only after the intervention of John Dramani Mahama, the flagbearer of the NDC, that they were convinced to appear in parliament for the State of the Nation Address.
"The Minority Caucus did not want to show up in parliament because they felt President Akufo-Addo had disrespected them for refusing to assent to bills that had been presented to him. One of them is the Anti-Witchcraft Bill, which will help to protect persons who are accused of being witches.
"It took the intervention of John Mahama to convince them to rescind their decision and show up in parliament," she said while speaking in an Instagram live session monitored by GhanaWeb.
What Akufo-Addo said about his decision not to assent to the Anti-Witchcraft bill
In a letter addressed to Parliament on Monday, December 4, President Akufo-Addo informed the House of his inability to assent to some bills until associated constitutional matters are resolved.
Speaker Alban Bagbin read the president's letter to members of the House, stating, "In the communication from His Excellency dated November 27 2023, he signified that according to Article 106, clause 7, he is unable to assent to the Criminal Offences Number 2 Bill 2023 because, upon review of the bill, he noted some constitutional matters relating to its passage."
The Speaker further conveyed that President Akufo-Addo has yet to specify the exact constitutional matters that required resolution before he can assent to the three bills.
Akufo-Addo delivered the SONA in accordance with Article 67 of the 1992 Constitution, which stipulates that the president shall, at the beginning of each session of parliament and before the dissolution of parliament, deliver a message on the State of the Nation to parliament.
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