From left: Justice Emile Short, Former Commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and Prof. Ransford Gyampo facilitate the roundtable discussion
THE INSTITUTE of Economic Affairs has demanded that the appointment powers of the President be streamlined and exercised in a manner that promotes inclusivity and meritocracy in the public sector.
Prof. Ransford Gyampo, a Research Fellow at the IEA made the call in a presentation at a roundtable yesterday in Accra, saying there was the need for the country to bring an end to the Winner-Takes-All (WTA) system of governance.
“This relieves the President of the work load and burden to appoint so many people into office. With this relief, the President can focus on other critical issues and areas of governance”, he added.
He warned that the President should not appoint members of the executive based on their political backgrounds but on merit.
Mr Gyampo, who is also a senior lecturer at the University of Ghana (UG) recommended that all MMDCEs be elected and CEOs be appointed by an independent constituted body and not the President.
“Make appointments of Chief Executive Officers of public corporations and institutions and other analogous positions transparent, competitive, well-advertised, inclusive, bi-partisan and based on competence,” he said.
According to him, officials like the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Chief Justice, Justices of the Supreme Court, and the Electoral Commission (EC) Chairperson should be appointed by the President only after they have been nominated by a constituted body to be composed of several groups such political parties, religious, and traditional bodies, civil society organizations, the judiciary, the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) Trades Union Congress (TUC), among others.
For the vetting and approval of ministerial appointees, he said, it should be done by two-thirds majority of all Members of Parliament as against the current practice of simple majority.
“Finally, Presidents must reach out to the main opposition political parties in search of competent people to help govern the country,” according to him.
BY Bridget Boateng & Melvin Tarlue