Supreme Court should consulted Parliament on decision on the bill to amend Narcotics Control Commission Act - Bagbin

The Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin has expressed concern over a decision by the Supreme Court that the Clause in the bill that is seeking to amend the Narcotics Control Commission Act, 2020 (Act 1019) to empower the Minister of Interior to grant a license for the cultivation of cannabis for industrial basis or for medicinal purposes, was unconstitutional.

The Speaker said he made his concerns known to the justices of the apex court in a meeting and urged them to consult Parliament for proper briefings whenever they are making such decisions.

He said these after the presentation and the first reading of the Narcotics Regulation Commission Amendment Bill, 2023, by the Minister of Interior, Ambrose Dery on the floor of Parliament on Thursday, July 6.

“I hope that the three arms of government will work together and respect each other.

In cases of doubt, it is important to consult the other arm before giving finality to whatever decision the other arm wants to take.

“I don’t think that it is proper for the judiciary to, without knowing how we conduct our business here, really go into how we conduct the business and make such an important decision without consulting the house, that is improper.

So please, committee, you are given one week to submit your report.”

Earlier when the Speaker paid a courtesy call on the management of Media General in Accra on Thursday, June 29 he stated that narcotics is one area the government that can generate revenue domestically to fund development projects.

He explained that “One of the areas is narcotics, wee, because they use it in pharmaceuticals.

Now you go for a surgical operation and most of the things they inject you with are from wee, the place becomes numb so when they cut you don’t feel anything at all.

“We put a small percentage zero point something when we were passing the Narcotics Control Commission Act, then they went and said immorality and they got somebody to take us to the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court without checking with us said that Clause was not debated, and by Article 106, it means it is unconstitutional because it didn’t follow the procedure of debate.

“And So I called these judges and I told them, I don’t understand them, who debates what is agreed upon?

So we debate things that we disagree with, things that we agree you don’t debate it.

“The constitutional provisions don’t say that everything must be debated even when there is a disagreement, it does make sense.

But they struck out that section from the Narcotics Control Commission Act and so we lost.

“Canada uses it a lot to generate revenue and we had a lot of businessmen who wanted to invest in Ghana because this one is legal and could be controlled, it is only used for pharmaceuticals and you will earn a lot of money.