A former Chairman of the Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) Ayikio Otto has stated that the Council of Elders of the party erred in asking the National Chairman and General Secretary to step aside.
[contextly_sidebar id=”ucnXOytAWQrNOYGFEG8UxKiRHSrivuW9″]The Council of Elders had advised Kwabena Agyapong and Paul Afoko to step aside until investigations into the death of the party’s Upper East Regional Chairman are completed .
The former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice however described the move by the Council of Elders as alien to the party’s constitution.
“That is wrong because the constitution provides that when they receive a petition, that is when they can suspend them. I am telling you that that phrase stepping aside is nothing more than interdiction, its nothing more than suspension.If they have not received petition, how can you advise anybody to step aside, are you not becoming partisan in the whole thing?”he queried.
He believes the Council of Elders’ directive might rather deepen confusion in the party.
“If people are calling for the people to step aside saying what they are doing is unconstitutional then you the elders who must advise also come and say that they should step aside, you are deepening the confusion in the party.”
According to him, the Council of Elders can only initiate such an action if they follow the processes stipulated in the party’s constitution.
“Do you have 40 percent of individuals who vote at a congress that some people should be removed from their position?Have you sent that petition in a written form, stating the reasons through the Council of Elders?Have they set up a committee to look into that matter.Have they asked those people to step aside constitutionally, lawfully and have they called an extraordinary congress in which two thirds have said the individuals should be removed?
“We should just follow the constitution. The constitution might not have envisaged everything that might have happened but those ones that it saw and provided for, I think we have to follow it.”
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By: Marian Efe Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @EfeAnsah