Jubilee House has said that it is not accurate that the recently passed Criminal Offences Amendment Bill 2023 has not received presidential assent.
According to Jubilee House, the letter received from Parliament exposes the unfair accusation by the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, and the minority side on the matter.
The Director of Communications at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin, in a statement issued on Tuesday, November 28, 2023 a day after the accusation, explained that Jubilee House received the Bill on that Monday, which the President was accused of breaching the constitution by not assenting.
“It is, thus, wholly inaccurate that the Bill has been sitting on the desk of the President without receiving due attention,” the statement said.
ISSUE
About five months ago, Parliament passed the Criminal Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2022, which makes it an offence to accuse any person of being a witch.
The bill was sponsored by Member of Parliament for Madina, Francis Xavier Sosu, and it is aimed at preventing attacks on alleged witches and prohibiting individuals from operating as Witch-doctors or Witch-finders.
The Speaker, Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin, going through the order paper for the day, drew the House’s attention to that item still featuring months after the passage.
He recalled that it was a private member’s bill, which went through the regular procedure and passed; “it was authenticated by the Clerk and copies were sent to H.E. the President for assent.”
He continued that after the constitutional period of seven days elapsed, he did draw the attention of the president to the issue, but had not received notice from the office.
The Member of Parliament for Tamale South, Haruna Iddrisu, after the Speaker had directed that the motion be deleted, stood to say that the failure of the President to assent to the bill constituted a constitutional breach that should not be countenanced.
The Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, explained to the House that the president had noticed some technical challenges with the bill and requested a meeting with the Speaker to discuss it.
He said that if those issues were not dealt with and the president assented, it would be a dent on the image of Parliament.
JUBILEE HOUSE
The statement from Jubilee House, however, explained that the president’s office received a letter from Parliament informing the President of the Witchcraft Bill and two others, dated Monday, November 27, 2023.
Eugene Arhin, Director of Communications, explained that the President takes his constitutional duties seriously and will carefully consider the Bill before making a decision.
“Contrary to the claims made in these reports by the Speaker of Parliament and the Minority Caucus in Parliament, President Akufo-Addo has not remained silent on the Bill. How could the Speaker of Parliament accuse the President of remaining silent on the Bill, when it was officially presented to him on Monday, November 27, 2023 the same day the Speaker made the accusation?
“Indeed, the Bill was officially presented to the President for his assent, together with the Wildlife Resources Management Bill, 2023, and National Petroleum Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2023, under cover of a letter dated November 27, 2023, with reference PS/CS/112/826.
“It is, thus, wholly inaccurate that the bill has been sitting on the desk of the President without receiving due attention.”
Meanwhile, The Chronicle has sighted a document showing that the President has assented to the Bill in contention, after receiving the letter from Parliament on Monday.
