The report that the Attorney General and Minister of Justice (A-G) is advising President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to hold on to assenting the Human Sexual and Family Values Bill, 2024, until the Supreme Court decides on two actions filed by Richard Dela Sky and Dr Amanda Odoi to challenge its constitutionality and consistency with the 1992 Constitution is one of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Wednesday.
The Ghanaian Times reports that the Attorney General and Minister of Justice (A-G), Mr Godfred Yeboah Dame, is advising President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to hold on to assenting the Human Sexual and Family Values Bill, 2024, until the Supreme Court decides on two actions filed by Richard Dela Sky and Dr Amanda Odoi to challenge its constitutionality and consistency with the 1992 Constitution.
“In the circumstances, I am of the view that assenting to the bill while the applications for interlocu¬tory injunction filed in the two suits are pending will render the said applications otiose and undermine the authority of the Supreme Court to determine the issues raised in them,” Mr Dame said in a letter signed on March 18 and addressed to the Jubilee House.
“Respectfully, in light of the fundamental questions of consti¬tutional significance raised by the two suits and the serious matters of public importance involved, I am of the considered opinion that it will be appropriate to accord unto the Supreme Court the propriety pending the final determination of the actions.”
The A-G’s advice to the President comes in the wake of two suits sent to his office by Mr Sky and Dr Odoi before and after the passage of the Human Sexual and Family Values Bill, 2024 by Parliament on February 28.
Mr Dame, who is government’s principal legal advisor, said it would be appropriate to accord onto the Supreme Court the propriety pending the final determination of the actions.
He said, “In the spirit of up¬holding the rule of law, as you are obliged to do so, I will respectfully advise that a decision to assent to the bill be made after the deter¬mination of the applications for interlocutory injunction.”
Mr Sky is seeking a declaration that upon a true and proper inter¬pretation of Article 35(5) of the 1992 Constitution, in light of Arti¬cles 12(1) and (2 ), 15(1), 17(1) and (2), 18(2), and 21(1)(a)(b)(d) and (e) of the Constitution, the passage of the Human Sexual and Family Values Bill 2024 by Parliament on February 28, 2024 contravened the Constitution and to that extent, null, void and of no effect.
The plaintiff wants a declaration that the Speaker of Parliament contravened Article 108(a) (ii) of the Constitution, in light of Article 296(a) (b) and (c) by admitting and allowing Parliament to proceed upon and pass the Human Sexual and Family Values Bill, 2024 into law as the same imposes a charge upon the Consolidated Fund or other public funds of Ghana.
The newspaper says that Jospong Group of Companies, Ghana’s leading multi-industry conglomerate, has concluded a new partnership with VinFast Auto, a Vietnamese electric vehicle pioneer.
The agreement will enable the Jospong Group to distribute a foray of electric vehicles into the African market, positioning the Group as a leader in sustainable transportation.
Under the agreement, Jospong will distribute VinFast’s entire range of vehicles, including electric cars, e-scooters, e-bikes, and electric buses, throughout Ghana.
Jospong Group in collabora¬tion with VinFast will also plan to deploy public charging infrastruc¬ture across the country to support EV penetration. The collaboration with VinFast’s portrays the Jospong Group’s commitment to delivering green and smart solution in its busi-ness, be it waste management or transportation for customers within the African Region and worldwide.
The Jospong Group operates across 14 different sectors with a network of over 60 companies. The Group has a strong presence in in¬dustries such as automobile, waste management, ICT, and banking.
In addition to the announced distribution agreement, Vingroup, Vietnam’s leading private multi-in¬dustry conglomerate and parent company of VinFast, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Jospong Group to en¬able the two Groups work together to identify and pursue business opportunities in areas of mutual interest, including electric vehicles, taxi operations, public transporta¬tion solutions, education, hospitali¬ty, and real estate development.
The Graphic reports that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has called on the African Union (AU) and other regional bodies to invest in developing national institutions and empower citizens with the requisite knowledge to demand compliance and accountability from their governments.
He said he was aware of the grave dangers some of those who had dared to engage at the national level faced, adding that “in those instances where the defenders of governance and constitutionalism face repression, we must raise our voices in their defence as a collective”.
“We cannot abandon the messengers we send when they are confronted with dangers because of the messages they deliver,” he added.
President Akufo-Addo made the call when he opened the African Union Accra Reflections Forum III on unconstitutional changes of governments in Africa in Accra yesterday.
He said experience had taught that even though external support was essential for accountability, it was ultimately national institutions, structures and processes that could effectively elicit compliance for our collective norms and frameworks on governance, democracy and constitutional rule.
He explained that most celebrations about coups were more about the change than the support for the unconstitutional change.
The newspaper says that the current Internet challenges which have affected economic activities in 13 countries present an opportunity for the country to diversify its Internet connectivity sources, Minister of Communication and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has said.
She said the country has not utilised satellite Internet infrastructure as much as it should due to cost implications as Internet from satellite providers are more expensive.
At the Artificial Intelligence Summit in Accra, she said there was therefore the need to engage the satellite providers to see how they could utilise that technology to provide the country with some sort of backbone connectivity infrastructure that was affordable.
She said the current Internet outages also presented an opportunity for the government and the private sector to invest more in connectivity.
It will be recalled that in December last year, the National Communications Authority released a statement that the operations of satellite-based Internet service provider, Starlink, was illegal.
According to the Authority, Starlink has neither been licensed in Ghana nor has any of its equipment been type-approved.
GIK/APA