A former Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament and a political historian, Professor Mike Oquaye has added his voice to the raging debate over whether President Mahama should consult widely before appointing a new Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC).
According to Professor Mike Oquaye, opening up the appointment of the Chairman of the EC to wider consultation is only “commonsensical.”
He argued that the directive though not enshrined in the constitution, is in the right direction and democratically sane.
[contextly_sidebar id=”jrSZnniLnSBAM7Ar7yovmwfBt98js6cx”]His view sharply deviates from that of the former Supreme Court Judge VCRAC Crabbe who believes the President should stick to what the constitution says.
“When the constitution uses such language acting in accordance with the advice of the council of state, in essence, it is the council of state which is making the appointment, because the expression shall act in accordance is mandatory and therefore in law at least the president is bound by the decision of the council of state,” he noted.
The current Chairman of the EC, Kwadwo Afari Gyan is due for retirement in June 2015 and government is currently working on finding a suitable replacement.
Several persons including flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo have called on President John Dramani Mahama to make the appointment process transparent.
The General Secretary of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Asiedu Nketia has insisted that the President should not deviate from the constitution.
However Professor Mike Ocquaye in an interview on Eyewitness News on Monday, insited that it should not be “like a hoodwink for the people of Ghana.”
“The constitution doesn’t go into such details, but it is commonsensical. It is in the art of good governance, it is in the art of promoting and deepening democracy that before you take a decision that touches and concerns all the people, before you appoint and rest free that all others can expect which will ease tension and bring peace to our democratic and electoral process, you must subject it to public debate.”
Wider consultation makes sense
He further argued that opening up the process for consultation makes sense, “If the constitution says the President has the discretion to even appoint his own ministers, it makes sense for the President to consult people.”
“If you want to appoint an Attorney General and you consult senior lawyers and the bar council to know the track record of that proposed attorney general. Nobody is saying you are even bound to consult but it is very important that people should learn the real dynamics of politics and democracy and that requires consultation.”
Political parties endorse wider consultation
The political historian, also a member of the NPP, said most political parties in Ghana support the call for appointment process to be opened up to wider consultation.
“It is very important for us to realize that the chairmen of political parties met under the IEA auspices, the political parties forum, they all agreed, NPP, NDC, CPP and others, they all agreed on the principle of consultation before appointment of Chairman of EC,” he claimed.
Four names for EC job
About four names have so far emerged for the job of the Chair of the Electoral Commission.
They are the Chairman of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry that investigated the 2014 World Cuo scandal, Justice Senyo Dzamefe, who is also a Court of Appeal judge; the Executive Director of the Institute of Democratic Governance (IDEG), Dr Emmanuel Akwetey; the Deputy Chairman in charge of Operations at the EC, Mr Amadu Sulley, and the Executive Director of the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), Professor Emmanuel Gyimah-Boadi.
Professor Gyimah-Boadi in an earlier interview with Citi News said he was not interested in the job because he is too busy.
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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana