Attorney General Godfred Dame has said the Supreme Court’s recent unanimous dismissal of an interlocutory injunction application by three represen
Attorney General Godfred Dame has said the Supreme Court’s recent unanimous dismissal of an interlocutory injunction application by three representatives of the Minority Caucus who sought to freeze the implementation of the e-levy, was in the right direction.
He said, “I am fully content with the outcome”, which, in his view, “underscores the point that you should not go to court based on conjectures”.
The 7-0 decision went against MPs Haruna Iddrisu, Mahama Ayariga, and Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, who filed the application on Tuesday, 19 April 2022 following the passage of the bill on Tuesday, 29 March 2022 by a one-sided parliament since the Minority Caucus staged a walkout that day.
Speaking to the media after the apex court’s ruling on Wednesday, 4 May 2022, Mr Dame said: “We found before the court a bundle of speculations as to even the numbers on which parliament voted to approve the e-levy and I feel that is really below the standard.”
Apart from that, the government’s lawyer said the Minority lacked certainty about the number of MPs that “approved the e-levy bill”.
“For me, that is very material because with the current composition of parliament now, the absence or presence of one Member of Parliament makes a difference”, he said.
He added: “You cannot go to court and say that either 136 or 137 approved it”.
To him, “The fact that there are only 274 validly elected Members of Parliament and the fact that the election of one Member of Parliament has been cancelled, reduces the quorum.”
“For me, it actually goes to buttress my point that the e-levy was validly approved”, adding: “If you go to court and there is no evidence of irregularity about the proceedings of parliament, then, in my view, you have not satisfied the basic test for the grant of an injunction”.
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