LGBTQI Bill: Punish Speaker Bagbin for disregarding you –Researcher tells SC
In a contempt summons against the Speaker of Parliament, the applicant avers that despite two substantive pending suits and an application for interlocutory injunction...
An academic researcher, Dr Amanda Odoi is praying the Supreme Court to punish the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin for disregarding its authority.
She notes that should the court fail to exercise this power, it will send a signal to the entire nation that the Constitution and the court’s authority can be disregarded with impunity.
In a contempt summons against the Speaker of Parliament, the applicant avers that despite two substantive pending suits and an application for interlocutory injunction challenging the LGBTQI Bill before Parliament, the Speaker of Parliament went ahead to give a directive for the Bill to undergo a second reading.
Dr Odoi notes therefore that the Speaker’s actions amount to complete disregard for the processes of the Supreme Court and thus calculated to interfere with the administration of Justice.
Moreover, the applicant avers that the Speaker’s disregard was deliberate as demonstrated by his various public utterances. Thus, he ought to be sanctioned for contempt in the public interest to protect the court’s dignity.
Additionally, she indicates that should the court fail to exercise its power to punish the Speaker of Parliament for contempt, it will send a message to the entire nation and the world that the Constitution and the court's authority can be disregarded and disrespected with impunity.
Dr Amanda thus wants the Supreme Court to issue appropriate orders which include restraining the Speaker from proceeding with the bill pending the final determination of the suit.
