By Beatrice Oppon
The Supreme Court has struck out an application to commit the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, for contempt for the continuous hearing of the anti-LGBTQI Bill by the House.
The panel, presided over by Chief Justice, Gertrude Torkorno, held that the applicant, Dr. Amanda Odoi, failed to establish a prima facie case to convince the court to injunct the work of Parliament in relation to the application.
The application was then withdrawn by the applicant and subsequently dismissed.
Dr Odoi wanted the Supreme Court to commit the Speaker of Parliament for Contempt because of a decision to allow Parliament to proceed with the second reading of the Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill without recourse to two pending substantive cases relating to the Bill.
Dr. Odoi, who is an Academic Researcher, is challenging the passage of the Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, which seeks to criminalise the practice of LGBTQ and any activity promoting it in the country.
Per her writ, Dr. Odoi alleges that the Speaker of Parliament violates Article 108 of the 1992 Constitution by causing the promotion of the said bill to proceed in Parliament notwithstanding that it was not introduced by or on behalf of the President and has the effect of imposing a charge on the Consolidated Fund or other public funds of Ghana.
