In order to avoid a possible impeachment, Speaker of Parliament, Edward Adjaho, on Wednesday agreed to be sworn in to act as President in the absence of President John Mahama and Vice President Kwesi Amissah Arthur.
Mr. Adjaho previously disregarded the constitutional provision by refusing to be sworn in while the two statesmen were out of the country.
This forced a private citizen, Samuel Atta Mensah, CEO of Accra-based Citi FM, to seek interpretation of the law at the Supreme Court.
The ruling, which was given in December, makes it a constitutional obligation for the Speaker to take the presidential oath and assume responsibilities of the President and his deputy are outside jurisdiction.
The ruling however fell short of giving an order for punitive actions against the Speaker.
Drawing inspiration from the decision of the Supreme Court, Law Lecturer, Prof. Kwasi Asare wrote to the Speaker, asking him to voluntarily resign from office or face impeachment for failing to protect the constitution that he swore to protect at all times.
Vice President Kwesi Amissah Arthur is presently on an official assignment in India, and President Mahama has either left the jurisdiction or is about leaving the country on an official trip.
At a short ceremony before MPs on Wednesday morning, Chief Justice, Georgina Wood, administered the Presidential oath to the Speaker in line with the requirements of Article 60 (12) of Ghana’s 1992 constitution.
Speaker Adjaho has in the past acted as President on at least three other occasions when the President and his deputy were out of Ghana.
On two of those occasions, the Speaker declined moves by the Chief Justice to have him take the relevant oath of office prior to taking charge as acting head of state.
Alleging constitutionally offensive conduct, Citi FM Chief, Samuel Attah Mensah, instructed his lawyers to file a law suit at the country’s apex court, citing the former Avenor Ave MP for breach of the very constitution he had sworn as Speaker to protect at all times.
In a judgment delivered in December last year, the Supreme Court upheld the arguments of Mr Attah Mensah’s lawyers but fell short of giving an order for punitive actions against the Speaker.
Drawing inspiration from the decision of the Supreme Court, Law lecturer, Prof Asare wrote a stinker to the Speaker asking him to voluntarily resign from office or be slapped with impeachment proceedings.
The Speaker has not publicly commented on the US based lecturer’s demands.
Source: citifmonline.com
