6 hours ago
The Presidential Candidate for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Mahama, has stated that the country has become a poor model of democracy.
Speaking on the second day of his tour of the Northern Region, former President Mahama questioned the independence of the judiciary and the autonomy of state institutions.
He claimed this deterioration has led to global disappointment in the country’s governance model.
Mr. Mahama’s criticisms come amidst the ongoing suit involving Effutu MP Alexander Afenyo-Markin and the Speaker of Parliament. Mr. Afenyo-Markin initiated court proceedings after Speaker Alban Bagbin declared four parliamentary seats vacant.
The Supreme Court subsequently issued a stay on Speaker Bagbin’s declaration. The Speaker countered with a suit seeking to overturn the Court’s ruling that suspended his declaration of the four parliamentary seats as vacant.
The Speaker’s legal team argued, among other grounds, that the Supreme Court lacked jurisdiction in this case. However, after hearing arguments from all parties, including the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, the Supreme Court maintained that its earlier ruling was appropriate, stating that the Speaker’s appeal was without merit.
Everybody looked up to Ghana as the model of democracy, but today, we are a bad model of democracy. Our judiciary is not independent, and all our state institutions have been undermined. People once viewed Ghana as a country that exemplified economic management; today, our economy is in shambles,” he said. It's takes to count.