Sticking to unlawful acts

For so long, our Presidents have taken us for a ride when it comes to their oath of office particularly, respecting legality in  the matter of  appointment of district chief executives. 

Whereas the law clearly defines the processes for approval by assembly members,  the  prudent exercise of their legal right is misconstrued as a snub of the authority of the President.

At the inauguration of the premier district assemblies, Prof. Kwamena Ahwoi experienced the wrath of some of our chiefs who refused to attend the inauguration, because they had been disrespected.

Whilst the law had provided that not more than 30 per cent of the assembly members must be appointed by the President in consultation with relevant identified bodies within the districts,  most of the appointees were selected without any involvement of the bodies they were to represent.

Accordingly some chiefs refused to attend  the inaugurations.

Last-minute efforts,  just as it happened with religious leaders  towards the recently held education reform forums, were made to appease the chiefs and assure them that it would not happen again, before some of them grudgingly graced the inauguration.

Article 242 (d) provides that " A District Assembly shall consist of the following other  members not being more than thirty per cent of all the members of the assembly, appointed by the President in consultation with the traditional authorities and other interest groups in the district".

This provision has been ignored with the concomitant that such assembly members have always been partisan appointees although the assemblies are supposed to be non partisan.

If even this basic law has always been breached, what about Article 243(1) which requires that "There shall be a District Chief Executive for every district who shall be appointed by the President with the prior approval of not less than two-thirds majority of members of the Assembly present and voting at the meeting".

In the case of the Presiding member, the person must secure not less than two-thirds majority of all the assembly members, which include elected members from the electoral areas, Members of Parliament  from the district, who are disallowed from voting, and the district chief executive.

With this form of calculation, appointees to the assemblies constitute more than a third of the elected members.

That is why when a candidate for approval as a district chief executive fails to secure 50 per cent of the votes, whether of all members or those present and voting, no political machinations must be deployed to undermine the rule of law, constitutionalism and due process to foist such a rejected character on the assembly.

But it has been the norm, happening without let, thus emboldening political activists to mischievously and ignorantly assume that when assembly members exercise their obligations, it is an affront to the President.

Such thinking reflects a poverty of thought, appreciation and understanding, that democracy is not about numbers but about rules and regulations and that, it is only when the rules are unable to help achieve an objective that numbers become relevant.

Otherwise, why would the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Linda Akweley Ocloo,  rave and rant, publish near curses, impute ingratitude  to assembly  members who acted constitutionally and independently to reject nominees of the President for approval as district chief executives.

The Regional Minister is behaving symptomatically Ghanaian, knowing that our people do not like litigation and fear political leaders, shouting herself hoarse by insisting that no matter how many times nominees are rejected they would be presented until they are approved.

She seems unwilling to accept the facts of the rule of law and due process, because they do not favour her.

Her conduct is similar to those FM radio stations which openly boast about their reach beyond the radius approved by the National Communications Authority to attract business.  

Yet when the NCA tries to apply the rules they court public support because the people would sentimentally and inelegantly  support them to continue with their illegalities. 

Emboldened

She is emboldened because she had succeeded in stealing some of the rejects through,  timidly approved by the assemblies.

She also knows that no one is going to court to seek redress about the breaches in provisions in the Local Government Act, which provide that where a nominee fails to secure 50 per cent at the first vote, the persons have lost and been rejected, but where  they secure that but are  unable to reach the two-thirds margin, they are entitled to one more vote  after which they are confirmed or rejected.

The rule is for completely new persons, not renomination of the rejected persons.

The Regional Minister must be grateful to the President for appointing her to that office, but she must understand that the power and authority of the assemblies to approve or reject nominees do not devolve from the President, nor are they subservient or subject to the control of any authority or person other than the provisions of Article 243 and relevant sections of the Local Government Act.

But all these could happen because our governments as Achebe has noted are aware that when a man befriends a widow, he knows that her  husband cannot wake up to confront him and expose him to shame and ridicule.