The Supreme Court has set March 5, 2015 to hear the case in which the Chief Executive Officer of Citi FM, Samuel Atta-Mensah is praying the court to declare as unconstitutional, the Speaker of Parliament Edward Doe Adjaho’s decision not to be sworn in as President before acting in that position.
The Speaker, Edward Doe Adjaho, on two occasions, refused to take the mandatory oath of office, while President John Mahama was away in Burkina Faso and Vice President Amissah-Arthur was also out of the country on an official assignment.
Samuel Atta-Mensah is also seeking an interpretation of Article 60 (12) in the 1992 constitution which requires that the Speaker takes the oath of office each time he is to act as President.
[contextly_sidebar id=”R60YKrisVBrz5zPRq6jRTbcWegl9ctW5″]Article 60 (12) states that “The Speaker shall before commencing to perform the functions of the President under clause (11) of this article, take and subscribe the oath set out in relation to the office of President.”
Doe Adjaho stuck to his decision despite a letter from the President, John Mahama to the Chief Justice, Georgina Theodora Woode to swear him in as President while he and the Vice President were away.
Though the Speaker is reported to have consulted with the Chief Justice and the Chief Legislative Draft person of the Attorney General’s office in making his decision, Lawyer for Samuel Atta-Mensah, Nii Apatu Plange said that he erred, and that the only body mandated to interpret the constitution is the Supreme Court.
“Anything that has to do with the constitution must be decided by the Supreme Court and no other body. So if the constitution says the speaker shall [swear the oath] then that is what he must do,” he told Citi Breakfast Show host Bernard Avle in 2014.
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By: Marian Efe Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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