The largest Minority group in Ghana’s Parliament, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is contesting the practice where the Speaker of Parliament is sworn in as Acting President of the Republic whenever both the President and his Vice are out of the country.
According to the Minority group, the President of the Republic remains the President wherever he may be at any particular point in time and therefore his temporary absence from the country cannot be described as incapacitation to perform his duties as the President to warrant the swearing in of another person to perform his functions.
The Minority NDC raised the issue on the Floor of Parliament on Sunday following an emergency summoning of the House for the swearing in of the Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliament, Michael Oquaye, as the Acting President in the stead of President Akufo-Addo who is in Liberia for the swearing in ceremony of the newly elected leader of that country; George Weah.
The Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, speaking on the floor of the House pointed out some inconsistencies in articles (60) 8 and (60) 11 of the Constitution which does not reflect the intentions and purposes of the framers of the Constitution. He therefore invited the House to take a critical look at the issue to find a lasting solution to the anomaly.
The Ranking Member on the Subsidiary Legislation in Parliament, Mahama Ayariga, in his address to the media on the sidelines of the swearing in ceremony emphasized the Minority’s position on the need for the practice of swearing in to stop.
Nana Kojo Ennimil/
