Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has said President Akufo-Addo “got it wrong” in appointing persons to the Council of State without “consulting Parliament.”
According to him, the statement put out in the media by the Acting Director of Communication at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin, mentioning names of persons as having been appointed for the reconstitution of the Council of State is considered by Parliament as the intention of the President.
“What they have done now is not appointments. He (President) has just conveyed his intention. I think that we should take that along as we transact businesses in future. The publication conveyed the intention of the President to appoint members of the Council of State in accordance with Article 89(1) and (2) of the Constitution,” he told the House yesterday.
The Speaker was reacting to a concern raised by the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, about the ‘authority’ of the President to appoint people to constitute Council of State without consulting Parliament, intimating that the action amounted to a breach of the constitution.
Speaker Bagbin, in response, said, “From all indications, Parliament has not been consulted. Members the Speaker is not Parliament. If there has been any such practice, I will not follow a wrong path.”
“The consultation is to be with Parliament and you (MPs), chaired by me, constitute Parliament. So even when there is communication, in whatever forms, does not make it formal communication. Even if it is verbal, I will have to convey to you,” he stated.
He said any time he received communication from the presidency he had to do it in the open or read on the Floor of Parliament, intimating that “the process must be done by us.”
“I have not received any communication from the President in this respect, neither verbal nor written; formal or informal,” he noted and added that Mr. Iddrisu, the NDC MP for Tamale South, was right in pointing to Article 89.
“He is drawing attention to this, and I will direct that this is conveyed to the Office of the President that the proper thing be done.
“Now that the names have come out, if there is consultation, and we disagree with some of the nominees, you all know the implication and effect of such disagreement,” Speaker Bagbin indicated.
“That is the right thing to do and that is the letter and spirit of the Article. The publication with regard to 89 (2) (b) is in the right direction. For Article 89(2) (a), I think the Office of the President got it wrong, and I so direct that this be communicated to the Office of the President.
“Any time I get the communication, which is properly channeled to me, I let Parliament be aware. The President is not bound to accept whatever we say, that we can be sure. He is not bound. I am even told consultation can be a telephone call. Now, because it is an institution, it will be difficult to deal with only a telephone call,” he stressed.
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House