Sam Okudzeto
A member of the Council of State, Sam Okudzeto, says constitutional provision that bars individuals and political parties from associating themselves with local government elections should be amended.
Speaking at the Rt. Hon. Prof. Mike Quaye Centre for Constitutional Studies at the IEA constitutional review seminar in Accra he said it was ‘hypocritical to exclude politics in the governance process’ hence the need for that provision to be amended to offer political parties opportunities to put forth candidates for elections.
Article 248 of the 1992 constitution states, “A candidate seeking election for the district Assembly or any local government unit shall present himself to the electorates as an independent individual and shall not use any symbol associated with any political party. A political party shall not endorse, sponsor or offer a platform to or in any way campaign for or against candidate seeking election in any district Assembly or to a local government unit.”
However Mr. Okudzeto believes such a move will among other benefits influence the direction to which members of political parties would conduct themselves in their respective roles in the localities thereby acting as check on these individuals as pertains in other advanced countries.
“My first suggestion is for that part of the provision to be amended or deleted completely and state that political parties ought to be involved in elections on the local government and indeed I am sure that they must be involved in the selection and election of members of the district Assembly. We need to relook at our local government structure altogether and that should be the first point of call in any amendment”
On the appointment of MMDCE’s by the President, he said mayors for instance, should be elected as others have pushed for in the past in order for them to be answerable to the electorates, to influence their conduct and behaviour unlike the current situation where mayors owe allegiance to the President and therefore ignores the totality of the interest of their constituents.
Mr. Okudzeto also mentioned that though article 243 mandates the President to appoint these MMDCE’s with prior approval of two thirds of members of the Assembly, the President was not bound to adhere to any proposal from the district Assembly, hence the constituents may not be able to remove him from office if he fails to perform as the President appointee.
Touching on the relevance of the Council of State, he said the Council of State still remains relevant in Ghana’s fledgling democracy giving the enormous powers ascribed to the President under 1992 constitution.
He explained that people including scholars and eminent people in society may not have understood the bases for the establishment of the Council of State which in his view has led to controversies and calls for it to be scrapped.
“The Council of State is relevant because in this constitution so much power is given to the President and if unchecked, they may take the wrong path in dispensing their duties. The powers of the President under the 1992 constitution make it even difficult for parliament to sack the President and for the President to dissolve parliament.
By Ebenezer K. Amponsah