Speaker must resign for refusing to take presidential oath – Lawyer

One of the applicants in the Supreme Court case that ruled that the Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament Edward Doe Adjaho erred in refusing to take the Presidential Oath of Office is asking him to resign.

The Legal Practitioner, Dr. Kwaku Asare says the Speaker must step down since he violated the country’s constitution.

[contextly_sidebar id=”1fwdwra4D6dIenJBzPwx5tzU7DetMKdb”]The Speaker of Parliament failed  to swear the oath on two consecutive occasions in the absence of President John Mahama and the Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur.

A petition to the President and copied to the Chief Justice and the leadership of Parliament accused Edward Doe Adjaho of breaching the oath act.

“The presidential oath that you violated on the aforementioned dates requires that that you submit yourself to the laws of the Republic of Ghana and suffer the penalty for the violation (see Second Schedule of the Constitution, 1992, Presidential Oath of Office; “I further (solemnly swear) (solemnly affirm) that should I at any time break this oath of office I shall submit myself to the laws of the Republic of Ghana and suffer the penalty for it.”),”the petition said.

The applicant in the petition is making the following demands 

Re: Implications of the Supreme Court’s Declaration that You have Violated the Constitution and the Presidential Oath of Office

1. I draw your attention to the recent Supreme Court ruling in Atta-Mensah and Asare v Attorney General and the Rt. Hon. Edward Doe Adjaho (consolidated writs JI/4/2015 and JI/20/2015). In this case, a 9-member panel of the Supreme Court unanimously held that your refusal to swear to the oath of President on November 5th and 7th 2014 contravened Articles 60(11)-(12) of the Constitution and violated the Presidential oath of office.
2. THE PRESIDENTIAL OATH that you violated on the aforementioned dates requires that that you submit yourself to the laws of the Republic of Ghana and suffer the penalty for the violation (see Second Schedule of the Constitution, 1992, Presidential Oath of Office; “I further (solemnly swear) (solemnly affirm) that should I at any time break this oath of office I shall submit myself to the laws of the Republic of Ghana and suffer the penalty for it.”)
3. Those who framed the Constitution were keenly aware that it would atrophy into a Compendium of suggestions if its provisions could be violated without a penalty. So too were they aware that the Presidential Oath of Office will degenerate into a meaningless ritual if it can be violated without consequences. This is why Article 69(1)(a) provides that “the President shall be removed from office if he is found to have acted in willful violation of the oath of allegiance and the presidential oath set out in the Second Schedule to, or in willful violation of any other provision of this Constitution.”
4. It goes without saying that Article 69(1)(a) should be read in pari materia with Article 95(2)(c-d) in the case of a Speaker, acting as President under Article 60(11)-(12), to effectuate your removal from office. It is Parliament’s duty to effect this removal or failing to do so the vacation can be effected via the High Court via Article 99(1).
5. I also wish to draw your attention to the Oath Act. Specifically, Subsection 4(1) provides that “A person who refuses to take the oath or make the affirmation required by law in respect of the appointment to an office shall, (a) if that person has already entered on that office, be deemed to have vacated that office from the date of refusal; and (b) if that person has not already entered on that office, be disqualified from so doing.” Your refusal to take the oath violates the Oath Act. As such, you never acted as President on November 5th and 7th as required by the Constitution (this, of course, is another serious Constitutional tort that disqualifies you from holding the office of the Speaker). Consequently, your name should be expunged from any record that designates you as having served as Acting President or performing the functions of the President on the dates aforementioned. It should also be clear from Subsection 4(1) of the Oath Act that your refusal to take the Presidential oath disqualifies you from further entering that office, which logically implies that you cannot remain Speaker since you are disqualified from performing the functions of President.
6. It is also my belief that your violation of the Constitution and the Oath of Office constitutes “high crime” under the Constitution. However, I believe the Supreme Court is correct in concluding that the “mode for the initiation of criminal proceedings is at the instance of the Attorney-General and not a private person.” I, thus, intend to draw the Attorney General’s attention to the Supreme Court’s judgment. It will, of course, be her discretion to decide on how to proceed, taking into account her solemn oath to defend and preserve the Constitution.
7. In light of the foregoing, I believe you can no longer hold the office of the Speaker of Parliament and I urge you to resign your office and publicly apologize for violating the Presidential oath of office. It gives me no pleasure and I am actually pained to make this request but my commitment to upholding the Constitution gives me no choice.

Sincerely Yours, S. Kwaku Asare

cc: His Excellency, President John Mahama

Her Ladyship, Chief Justice Georgina Wood

First Deputy Speaker Hon. Ebo Barton Oduro

Second Deputy Speaker Hon. Joseph Ghartey

Majority Leader, Hon. Alban S. K. Bagbin

Minority Leader, Hon. Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu

Parliamentary Service Board Public Affair Directorate

Parliament Attorney General

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @EfeAnsah