The Flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for the 2016 elections, Nana Akufo-Addo says he cannot destool chiefs who criticize him if he is elected to power, contrary to President John Mahama’s claims.
Nana Akufo-Addo, while on a campaign tour, was responding to a recent comment by President Mahama that he [Akufo-Addo] will destool chiefs who criticize him should he be voted as President in the December polls.
According to Nana Akufo-Addo, Mahama’s comments show his ignorance of the regulations in the constitution that makes it impossible for politicians to meddle in chieftaincy affairs.
Addressing electorates in the Assin Central constituency of the Central Region on Thursday [November 3], Nana Akufo-Addo said, “does our President understand the laws governing our country? Has he bothered to read our Constitution? No President has the power to destool a chief”, Akufo-Addo said.
“Ghana has gone past the era where a sitting President could destool a Chief. Judicial Committees of Traditional Councils are the only ones who can destool a chief, and not a President,” he added.
He noted that the framers of the constitution enshrined in the 1969 Constitution that “The institution of Chieftaincy is guaranteed under the Constitution”, a provision which subsequent Constitutions have incorporated.
He explained that it was for this reason Chiefs had been barred from engaging in active partisan politics.
“[As president] you should be abreast of the Constitution of the Republic, and have it at your fingertips. President Mahama can’t even read and understand the Constitution. He just gets up and makes unfortunate comments,” Nana Akufo-Addo remarked.
“I have so much respect for the Chieftaincy institution. My ancestry, including my late grandfather, the Okyenhene, Nana Ofori Atta I, and my own mother, who became the queen mother of Kyebi, means I have respect for the institution. I am not the one coming to disrespect them…He (President Mahama) says when I become President, I am going to drive away Muslims, residents in Zongos, amongst other things. He will never say to the people what his vision for them is or his record. Even at the launch of the NDC manifesto, all he [President Mahama] did was to talk about me. He had to be prompted before remembering that he was to talk about the contents of his manifesto,” he added.
The NPP flagbearer said that the recent utterances by President Mahama and his inability to effectively manage the economy proves that he has little understanding of democracy.
He called on the electorates to vote out President Mahama in the upcoming elections and give him the nod to government the country into economic growth and social transformation.
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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana