Speaker did not err by refusing to take Presidential Oath - GBA (audio)
The Ghana Bar Association (GBA) has said the Speaker of Parliament did not err by declining to be sworn-in to act in the capacity of the President while both the President and his Vice were out of the country.
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The Speaker of Parliament, Mr Edward Doe Adjaho, last week declined on two occasions to take the presidential oath when both President Mahama and his Vice Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur traveled out of the country on official engagements.
Ghana's constitution prescribes that the Speaker be sworn into office to act as President any time the President and his Vice were out of the country.
But Mr Adjaho in refusing to take the oath explained that he had in consultation with the Chief Justice agreed that since he had taken the same oath previously on October 19, 2013 when the President and his Vice were out of the country, there was no need for him to do so again.
But the action of the Speaker sharply divided legal brains over its legality.
While some lawyers said the Speaker had committed a ‘treasonable’ act, others said the act was in sync with the Fourth Republican Constitution.
Wading into the debate Friday morning at the 7th annual Chief Justice's Forum on personal integrity in justice delivery in Accra, the President of the Ghana Bar Association, Nene Abayateye Amegatcher said the Chief Justice on her part did nothing wrong and that she was right by going along with the Speaker’s position.
Listen to Nene Amegatcher speak to Joy FM
{mp3}gba_on_speaker_swear{/mp3}
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Nene Amegatcher who spoke to Accra based Joy FM at the sidelines of the Chief Justice's forum made reference to the Oaths Act of Ghana which was passed in 1972.
He said all commentators on the matter have so far not made reference to any statute and so the GBA believes that the actions of the Speaker did not contradict the constitution and that it was right for the Speaker not to have taken the oath again.
According to Nene Amegatcher, Section 3 of the Act specifically talks about unnecessary repetition of oaths.
“No person who has duly taken the Oath of Allegiance or the Judicial Oath shall be required again to take that oath on appointment to any other office or on any other occasion.”
According to the GBA President, in effect what it meant was that, "Once you have taken an oath for a particular office, and you are being appointed to perform some responsibilities in that office, you are not obliged to take another oath, a second and a third oath. It’s still applicable because it is not inconsistent with the provision of the constitution."
“In our view the Speaker did not err and the Chief Justice was right,” he said.
In Parliament last week, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Bekwai (MP), Mr Joseph Osei-Owusu argued that by interpretation of the relevant clause, the Speaker should have sworn an oath in the House before assuming the high office of President.
Mr Osei-Owusu’s claim was quickly countered by the Youth and Sports Minister, Mr Mahama Ayariga, with the explanation that anytime the President was out of the country the Vice acted in his absence.
The Minority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu and NPP MP for Suame, quoted Article 59 Clauses 8 and 68 which spell out the procedures for an acting capacity in the event of the absence of the President to apprise the members.
There was another opinion that the Speaker should have resigned his position before assuming the acting President position.
For his part, the Minister of Defence, Dr Benjamin Kunbour and National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP for Nandom, explained that the House was dealing with two scenarios.
According to him, one scenario talks about incapacitation of the President to perform his duties and the other being absent from the country and supported his claim with Article 60 (12) of the Constitution which indicates that the Speaker shall perform the functions of president during his absence.
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