Vice President of IMANI Africa, Kofi Bentil, has expressed disagreement with the Supreme Court's ruling that allows the Deputy Speaker to vote while presiding over proceedings in Parliament.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, Thursday, he stated, "I don’t see how you can have somebody being a neutral arbiter moderating a debate, and later he gets down to vote.”

He stressed that as a Deputy Speaker, one is expected to be a neutral arbiter.

However, if given the right to vote while presiding over the House, there may be some compromises that may favour the political party he belongs to.

“To say it is unconstitutional for a member to lose their vote because they’ve become Deputy Speaker, I disagree. I don’t agree with the ruling because they’re saying that if you become a Deputy Speaker and assume extra powers, you should still keep your votes.

His comment was in reaction to the Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling that affirmed Deputy Speakers’ capacity to cast a vote while presiding over proceedings of the House.

On March, 9, 2022, the Supreme Court, presided over by Justice Jones Dotse ruled that a Deputy Speaker can be counted during the formation of a quorum for parliamentary decision-making and participate in voting while presiding over the parliamentary business.

Commenting on the outcome, he stated that though he accepts the ruling, he disagrees with it.

"An ordinary member in the normal course of their duties has a vote, but when a member assumes parliamentary positions, which is a privilege accorded them within Parliament and is beyond what they were voted to come and do, he cannot keep his votes," he said.

Mr. Bentil added that since such positions come with extra perks, privileges, and responsibilities, (which MPs are made aware of before assuming such roles) MPs who are elevated to such positions should be willing to make some compromises and comply with the demands that come with the role.

“You cannot keep what you’re holding and also take what you’re getting,” he said.

He, thus, entreated Members of Parliament who are not willing to make such compromises to decline such roles.

 “So if you’re elected or you’re chosen and you accept or take on those extra roles which come with extra privileges, perks and other things, which require you to do things differently, then it stands to reason that you can’t represent your people ordinarily and still exercise those privileges. You have the prerogative not to accept it,” he added.

Otherwise, he has proposed that the Constitution be amended such that senior clerks of Parliament could assume such role in the absence of the Speaker.

“Why don’t we amend the Constitution to say that Parliamentarians should remain Parliamentarians since they want to represent their people so badly and retain their votes at all times? They should do just that and if the Speaker is not available, the senior most Clerk of Parliament should preside,” the Vice President of IMANI Africa added.