First transitional meeting - President Akufo-Addo and Mahama confer

The President-elect, John Dramani Mahama, will hold the first transitional meeting with the President today. 

Ahead of the meeting, Mr Mahama yesterday named an 11-member Transition Team after a crunch meeting.

They are made up of a former Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah, who is the Co-Chairperson; the National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, member, the party’s General Secretary and former Minister of Food and Agriculture and Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, a member, and a civil servant, Dr Callistus Mahama, who is the Secretary to the Transition Team.

Other members of the team are a lawyer and former Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Policy Advisor at the Presidency, Dr Valerie Sawyerr; professor of law, Prof. Kwamena Ahwoi; Minority Leader and former Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson; a lawyer and former Minister of Environment and Natural Resources and Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga; a lawyer, businessman and Ghana’s former member of the diplomatic delegation to the UN, Goosie Tanoh, as well as a former Minister of Communications and the NDC’s Director of Elections, Dr (Med) Edward Omane Boamah.

The President-elect also nominated a former Speaker of Parliament, Edward Doe Adjaho, as a member of the Transitional Advisory Council, a statement signed by the party’s Communication Officer, Sammy Gyamfi, said.

This appointment of members comes within 24 hours after his declaration by the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission as the President-elect.

The exercise is in line with Section 1 of the Presidential (Transition) Act, 2012, (Act 845) which enjoins both the incumbent President and President-elect to appoint representatives to the Transition Team within 24 hours after declaration of the presidential results.

Pursuant to Section 1(1) (a) of Act 845, the following persons must be part of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s representatives.

They are the Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame; the Minister of Finance, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam; the Minister for the Interior, Henry Quartey; Minister of Defence, Dominic Nitiwul; Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey; the Minister of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, Martin Adjei-Mensah Korsah, and the Minister of National Security, Albert Kan-Dapaah. 

Additional persons

The Transition Team shall also include the Heads of the Civil Service and Local Government Service, Secretary to the Cabinet and the National Security Coordinator.

President Akufo-Addo and Mr Mahama can decide to chair their respective transition teams or delegate such responsibility to any person of their choice, pursuant to Section 1 (2) (b) of Act 845. 

Duties

The Transition Team, which must have its first meeting within 48 hours after the declaration of the result, among other functions, is responsible for making arrangement for the smooth transfer of power from the incumbent President to the President-elect. 

It also ensures that the President-elect is provided with daily national security briefings before his assumption of office.

Also, the Transition Team is charged with the responsibility of ensuring the prompt payment of salaries, benefits and retiring benefits of Members of Parliament and other Article 71 office holders whose tenure has ended.

The statement from the Office of the President-elect said the team would work closely with representatives of the outgoing government, with a view to ensuring a smooth transfer of political power to the incoming administration.

“The Transition Team is composed of experienced individuals drawn from various sectors, including finance, governance and public administration,” the statement added.
 

Background

Act 845, also known as the Transition Act, requires the outgoing President to have submitted “a set of comprehensive handing-over notes covering the term of office of the President as the Executive authority under Article 58 of the Constitution” to the Administrator-General at least 30 days before the elections.

The arrangement is to ensure the smooth takeover and continuity in the running of the country as a going concern.

Section 6(2) of the Transition Act states that the notes prepared for the purpose shall include the handing-over notes received by the President and the Ministers on assuming office.

The notes are also to include the activities of the Office of the President and the Office of the Vice-President, and of the agencies under the portfolios of the President and the Vice President, ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), Regional Ministers and district chief executives.

The Act further states that “the handing-over notes shall reflect the accurate developments which have taken place during the tenure of office and the projections of development to take place before the end of the full tenure”.

The original and five other copies of the handing-over notes are to be presented to the Administrator-General not later than 30 days before the date of the presidential election, the Act states.

The Administrator-General is to make the original copies of the handing-over notes available to the President-elect, retain a copy, and then send a copy each to Parliament, the Chief Justice, the Council of State and the Public Records and Archives Administration Department.