President can dismiss, not suspend MMDCE
A former Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Akwasi Opong-Fosu, has stated that there is no provision in the Local Governance Act of 2016 (Act 936) that allows the President to suspend a Metropolitan, Municipal or District Chief Executive (MMDCE).
He explained that the Act provided for the appointment and dismissal of MMDCEs by the President but not to suspend.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic in Accra last Wednesday (February 9, 2022), he stated: “In relation to the appointment and dismissal of MMDCEs, there is a provision which gives the President the power to dismiss but there is no provision in that legal framework that gives the President the power to suspend.”
He added: “We are governed by laws so we have to comply with what the law says.”
Sekondi-Takoradi MCE
Mr Opong-Fosu’s assertion followed a recent incident where the Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) for Sekondi-Takoradi in the Western Region, Mr Abdul Mumin-Issah, was caught on tape in a fierce verbal confrontation with a police officer who stopped him for an alleged road traffic offence.
The MCE had since been suspended based on the directives of the President.
An official statement announcing his suspension said, "Without prejudice to the matter now before court, government takes a very dim view of the comments made by the Metropolitan Chief Executive during his exchanges with the police."
His suspension is pending an inquiry into his confrontation with the police officer on February 3, 2022.
Mr Mumin-Issah, who was arrested by the police, had been granted bail by a circuit court in Takoradi.
No explanation
Giving further explanation, Mr Opong-Fosu, who served as Local Government Minister in the Mahama administration, opined that the President, based on the information he had could straightaway dismiss the MCE but not suspend him.
In the event of dismissal, he indicated that the President did not owe anybody an explanation.
Mr Opong-Fosu, who is also a former Member of Parliament for Amenfi East, was of the view that by now, the President should have been sufficiently briefed on the investigations into the matter for him to take an action that he had the power to take.
Referral
The former minister, however, said there was a provision under Section 26 ( 1) of the Local Governance Act where the Public Relations and Complaints committee within the assemblies could handle complaints or allegation of misconduct of an MMDCE.
“When the committee receives and investigates such complaints, it can recommend to the President for the removal of an MMDCE. So this [Sekondi-Takoradi MCE] matter could have been referred to the Public Relations and Complaints Committee which is chaired by the presiding member.”
“That should have been a way out for the police administration to say for instance that, this has happened which we consider to be abuse of office or misconduct so the police administration is referring to the committee,” Mr Opong-Fosu stated.
Official drivers
Another thing the former minister said which could have been done to avoid the awkward development between the MCE and the police officer was the use of an official driver by the MCE.
Making reference to the PNDC era, he said there was an administrative instruction to all district secretaries (now DCEs) that they were not to drive official vehicles.
He described the directive as a protective measure against DCEs coming directly with the breach of the law.
“I think that was a very good directive. So if we are to go back to history, we will save ourselves some of these awkward situations like what happened between the MCE and the police officer,” he added.