Haruna Iddrisu
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Caucus Leader in Parliament, Haruna Iddrisu, has been exposed for being highly hypocritical on President Nana Akufo-Addo’s appointment of caretaker ministers.
Mr Iddrisu had in an interview with the media said it was illegal for Mr Akufo-Addo to appoint ‘Caretaker Ministers’.
According to Mr Iddrisu, the appointment of caretaker ministers by Mr Akuffo-Addo was unconstitutional and unlawful.
The NDC lawmaker referenced a Supreme Court ruling between the late J.H Mensah versus Attorney-General in 1997 as the basis for his argument.
Mr Iddrisu recounted that the Supreme Court ruled in 1997 that “there is nothing like acting or holding minister”.
Interestingly, Mr Iddrisu himself was appointed a caretaker minister by former President John Mahama on January 8, 2013.
A letter written by Mr Mahama at the time and addressed to Mr Iddrisu said the appointment of Mr Iddrisu was in accordance with with Section 5 of the Presidential (Transition) Act, (Act 845) 2012.
Meanwhile, caretaker Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has taken to Twitter to respond to Mr Iddrisu.
According to Mr Nkrumah, “The Presidential Transition Act, passed in 2012 Section 14(5) is a new provision that empowers a new President to do new things that were previously illegal”.
Section 14(5) of the Presidential Transition Act, 2012 (Act 845),
stipulates that “before the assumption of office of the incoming Minister, a person so appointed by the President shall be in charge of the relevant Ministry but shall not take a decision involving a policy issue except in the Ministry of Justice where the Solicitor-General shall be in charge of the Ministry “.
Mr Akufo-Addo after his swearing-in on January 7, 2021 appointed Caretaker Ministers to manage affairs of the various ministries pending the substantive appointments.
By Melvin Tarlue