WHILE WE STAND ASIDE AND LOOK
On January 7, 2010 President Mills (the Peace King) and the Parliament that swore him into office celebrated one year at the helm of mother Ghana’s affairs. As expected, days following the anniversary have seen a flurry of activities. In keeping with Kufour established custom, the Peace King invited illustrious members of our Media for Q and A at his Castle.
Unfortunately, the most important announcement of that session, “I have paid Kufour Ex-Gratia” did not raise a single eye brow. Our Media gave it very little coverage until Ex President Kufour’s spokesman told the country that the money has been rejected. However, when days later, Kwesi Pratt Jnr decried the Ex-Gratia provision on ALHAJI & ALHAJI and called for it to be scrapped, our Media was all over that.
Then on January 11, the President inaugurated a Commission to review our 1992 Constitution. Hours before the Peace King breathed life into his pet Commission; Professor Kofi Kumado his former Legon University faculty mate, publicly condemned the move as “a misplaced priority.” Professor Kumado is quoted to have declared “give me the money to build public toilets throughout the country.”
Professor Kumado’s opposition to reforming our Constitution has generated a buzz in our country. A parade of Media Talking Heads and distinguished lawyers from the Attorney General to law professors of our tertiary institutions has bombarded our Air ways and Newspapers with arguments that are neither here nor there, as we, the silent majority “stand aside and look.”
We can no longer afford that silence. To Professor Kumado, we say thank you for opposing the Presidential Review Commission. We join you in opposition but do not share your reasons. Your talk about the needs of the suffering masses, the needed rural developments etc. sound to us like a cheap hypocritical play on our Ghanaian psyche. While we understand that a hungry Ghanaian is an angry Ghanaian, we borrow a very hungry Jesus’ words to the devil two thousand years ago and say to you sir, that we, Ghanaians SHALL NOT LIVE BY KENKEY, FUFU, GARI & TZ ALONE.
There is a more important issue at play here. The very soul of our democracy! President Mills (the Peace King) an eminent Law Professor with honest intentions, appears to be infringing on the very Constitution he swore to defend and protect. Ghana needs champions; Parliament, the Judiciary, the political parties, President Mills’ own peers, our media, somebody please help!
Thus far every one of you seems to be going off on a wrong tangent. In the history of every country, there are defining moments, moments when ordinary citizens rise up and take charge of their own destiny. One of those moments is upon us in Ghana now; we have to stand up. Like frogs that have taken in too much water, we, the silent majority, say AUWGGH! Time out, everybody please halt.
It appears to us that our President (the Peace King) flouted our constitution when he: • Used or attempted to use the Ishmael Yamson Report to pay Ex-Gratia to Ex President Kuffour without Parliamentary approval. • Inaugurated the Constitutional Review Commission.
Our Constitution is very explicit. All power belongs to us, the people, unless specifically assigned to a branch of government to be exercised in our name. The President, the Legislature and the Judiciary each have specific powers, clearly spelled out in our Constitution. Since our document enshrines the principle of delegation of authority, each branch of government can delegate some of their assigned role to individuals or groups.
The President can therefore appoint a Commission and charge it to perform some of his constitutionally assigned duties. Just his duties, nothing more! Thus when the President recently inaugurated the Constitutional Review Commission, he effectively told that august group to do some work that our Constitution has assigned to him.
What provision of our Constitution gives the president the authority to initiate Constitutional Reform? Is it article 58 (2) which states: “The executive authority of Ghana shall extend to the execution and maintenance of this Constitution and all laws made under or continued in force by this Constitution”? Can the clause “maintenance of this constitution” be translated into “initiate Constitutional reform” by any stretch of the imagination?
Our explicit Constitution states clearly in article 289 (1) that: “Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, Parliament may, by an Act of Parliament, amend any provision of this Constitution.” Since Parliament and only Parliament can amend our constitution, only that body can delegate a Commission to do any work related to the amendment of our Constitution.
As mentioned above, we have heard the Attorney General and other “book long” Ghanaians explain what the President has set out to do blah, blah, blah. But until somebody points us to the Constitutional provision that gives the Peace King the authority to delegate the role of another branch of government, we will continue to consider the Commission he has set up unconstitutional and illegal. We ask our fellow Ghanaians to challenge the Commission’s authority in Court. Unfortunately, I, the author of this article, reside outside Ghana and cannot therefore challenge this unconstitutional and illegal imposition in a Ghanaian Court.
The Constitutional provision on Ex Gratia payments Article 78 (1 & 2) requires the President to appoint a Committee to make recommendations to his government then: • The President has to approve payments for the Parliamentarians. • Parliamentarians have to approve payments for “the President, the Vice-President, the chairman and the other members of the Council of State; Ministers of State and Deputy Ministers.”
President Mills (the Peace King) therefore contravened no laws when he used the Ishmael Yamson Report to pay off Parliamentarians. However, using that Report without Parliamentary approval as a criterion to pay the 90.000 Cedis or so to President Kuffour, constitutes an infringement of the constitution. Especially after Presidential spokesman Mr. Ayariga, told us (on Joy FM News File) that the Ishmael Yamson Report was not meant for Parliament.
We are no cheerleaders or haters of President Mills or Ex-President Kufour. We give our leaders their due respect but we believe in the supremacy of our Constitution. We support Constitutional reform, and want to get rid of the current Ex-Gratia provisions but what good is a perfect Constitution if its provisions are not followed?
Where is Parliament in all this? Why the silence, guilty conscience? Have our Parliamentarians read the Constitution? Do they know their role? Do they realize that they are the main anchor of the checks and balances built into our constitution? We call on all our Parliamentarians to stand up and be counted. Parliament should call the Peace King to order. He has no legal authority to delegate Parliament’s role to his Commission. The Peace King can then use his party’s Parliamentary majority to get the authorization for the illegal Commission he just inaugurated. And that by the way will assure us that we have a RUBBER STAMP Parliament.
Parliament should also ask about any Executive attempt to use the Ishmael Yamson Report without parliamentary approval as required by Article 78 (1 & 2) to pay Ex President Kufour. We are aware that you, our representatives, have quietly received your Ex-Gratia from the Peace King. We hope this is your very last ‘nicodemus’ act. We advocated for the King Peace to review the disgraceful package handed to Ex-President Kufour. While we applaud him for doing that, we say to all that transparency and strict adherence to our Constitution is far more important to us.
Our Media has missed the fundamental question in the debate. Instead of asking the Attorney General and the Chairman of the National Commission for Civil Education about the timing of the Constitutional Review process, the media should ask about the constitutional authority for setting up that Commission. If the President cannot point to any Constitutional clause for authority then his Commission is illegal.
Instead of an impossible, impractical request like “give me the money to build public toilets throughout the country,” Professor Kumado should either challenge the constitutionality of President Mills’ action in Court himself or offer his expertise as a Constitutional lawyer free of charge and represent any Ghanaian who challenges the President legally.
Instead of decrying the Ex-Gratia provision on ALHAJI & ALHAJI, Mr. Kwesi Pratt Jnr should challenge the constitutionality of the Mills payment to Kufour in Court. A Supreme Court decision on such a Law Suit will serve Ghana better than Mr. Kofi Wayo’s bellying laughter on a radio program. Constitutionally, the Courts cannot intervene until some Ghanaian takes the case to them – Check and Balances.
Where are our political parties especially the NDC and NPP? In typical Ghanaian fashion, the NDC is silent, not even Ex-President Rawlings has said a word. The party should remember our Akan Proverb. “The stick that was used for Takyi will be used for Baah.” They are in power today; they may be in opposition tomorrow.
The most disappointing actor in all this is the NPP political party. We cannot fathom how a party led by a lawyer and former Attorney General of Ghana, can stoop so low as to demand that Ex-President Rawlings be made to pay rent because President Kufour has not received his Ex-Gratia. That is childish. We expect our kids to come running to us demanding that we take something away from their siblings if they cannot have one. We do not expect super educated grown men and women to be super kiddies.
Where is the Constitutional basis for asking an Ex-President to pay rent on properties the NPP government allowed him to use for 8 years? The NPP should go to Court and challenge the Constitutionality of President Mills’ action on Ex-Gratia. That is the only way our country can realize the check and balances in our Constitution. The NPP should not, cannot stand aside and look and CRY.
Written by L. Kojo Yeboah, Raleigh, NC USA