Chairperson of the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of Parliament, Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi, says parliament will adequately debate Section 43 of the Narcotics Control Commission Act, Act 1019, hopefully in its next sitting.

This follows the Supreme Court, in a majority 5-4 decision, affirming the quashing of the section based on the argument that the law was unconstitutionally passed by the house.

Speaking on PM Express, Mr. Anyimadu-Antwi stated that parliament will this time adequately debate the section in order to avoid the law being quashed for a second time.

“I am sure this time we will debate it adequately and I’m sure the Supreme Court wouldn’t say that we didn’t debate it,” he said.

Meanwhile, the law is being considered under a certificate of urgency to fast-track its passage.

“We sat on it last Friday. It was referred to the Defence and Interior and the leadership for constitutional, legal and parliamentary affairs was added. So on Friday the committee sat on it, so tomorrow, Tuesday when we sit, if the report is ready we’ll lay the report and then go through the debate,” he said.

The Supreme Court in a majority 5-4 decision affirmed its view that the law allowing cultivation of weed in Ghana was unconstitutionally passed by Parliament. 

Presiding Judge Justice Dotse stated that the threshold a party ought to meet to enable it to review its own judgement has not been met.

The court in July 2022 struck out Section 43 of the Narcotics Control Commission Act, Act 1019.

This provision stipulated that “the Minister on the recommendation of the Commission, may grant a licence for the cultivation of cannabis popularly referred to as “wee” in Ghana, which is not more than 0.3 % THC content on a dry weight basis for industrial purposes for obtaining fibre or seed for medicinal purposes.”

However, the Apex court in a 4-3 majority decision annulled this provision and declared that it is a violation of Article 106 of the 1992 constitution.