He said if there should be any change from the 1992 Constitution, it should be the clause that allows appointments.
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Ghana should scrap the appointment of MPs as Ministers – Prof. Mike Ocquaye
Professor Aaron Mike Ocquaye, a former Speaker of Parliament has opined that the appointment of Members of Parliament as Ministers of State should be ceased.
Mike Ocquaye, former Speaker of Parliament
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Speaking in an interview with the Daily Graphic, Prof. Ocquaye the appointment of Ministers from Parliament has weakened the legislature.
He contends that the Ministerial work overwhelms the lawmakers and hinders them from doing their jobs as parliamentarians effectively.
“I want a complete dichotomy. A complete separation, in that, no minister will also be an MP and it’s nothing strange to us. We had it in 1979 under President Hilla Limann and we have it in America. We have it in Nigeria and in other places. It allows better performance of MPs and ensures accountability and responsibility can be more insured because you don’t appoint him or her”, he said.
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“I spoke about them on various occasions and as for the dichotomy, I can assure you that we had meetings upon that as well, in that, I know very well that the Right Honourable Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin supports that viewpoint and he’s very experienced and a good parliamentarian.”
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“The Honourable Majority and the Honourable Minority leaders support it. We have the same view that to strengthen parliament, we would need to have a dichotomy. Let the ministers do their work and let the members of parliament also do their work and then check them”, he added.
Prof. Ocquaye also spoke about the Electoral Commission and said the tenure of the EC Chairperson should be limited.
“Yes, the tenure can be determined, four years. I’m just giving you some of the best practices. Out of some of the other areas, we can also think of something for us. I don’t have the answer but I know that there are other possibilities.”
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“We can agree for example that, if it is a four-year term or a six-year term and that the person must be a retired judge of the Appeal Court or Supreme Court. You will find that, if you make a man like, at the time that Justice Brobbey retired, Justice Date-Bah, the two lady Justices who had just retired, you know, they have integrity. All these ladies and gentlemen that I’ve just mentioned, you will find that they are going to be the chairperson only and therefore supervise. Under their watch, they will make sure that everything is okay.”
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