News:
September 23, 2024
Member of Parliament (MP) for Sagnarigu, Alhassan Bashiru Fusein is advocating for the 1992 Ghanaian Republican Constitution to be amended and given the President of Ghana the latitude to determine where he picks his Ministers from; a departure from Article 78 clause (1) “Majority of ministers of state shall be appointed from members of Parliament”.
On the sidelines of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs (MoPA) stakeholders’ engagement, on the validation of the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) report of the 1992 constitution, in an interview with ABA Fuseini, he pointed out that Presidents of Ghana come to office with visions to be actualized.
And the Constitution of the land should not tie him down as to where he picks his Ministers from. “We should grant the President more leverage to look at the entire country, if he can get full complement of his ministers outside parliament that are committed, competent, loyal, and dedicated to him to attain his vision”.
He affirmed that he is in favor of an amendment of the 1992 Constitution that takes away majority of his ministers coming from Parliament House.
He was however, quick to point out that, he is not opposed to the President selecting some of his Ministers from Parliament, and that restricting the President to get Majority of his Ministers from Parliament hinders him from getting competent one from the vast human resources.
Again, you might have more Ghanaians who are outside Parliament who can contribute to the Country’s progress, but the constitution says majority of the Ministers should come from Parliament House.
Meanwhile, he pointed out that another aspect of the Constitution that should be looked at is this whole thing of winner takes all. “For example in a National Democratic Congress (NDC) government, the president should not depend on only NDC people for appointment. If there are people of other political parties and even not only political parties who are Ghanaians out there with the requisite competence, and the commitment to contribute to the progress of this country, why not”.
“I believe in the incoming President John Mahama administration, he has been there before as a pragmatic president who is amendable to such ideas, he would tape the expertise of many Ghanaians outside the normal political partisan thing”.
He asserts that where our country is today, we need all the needed human resources to move the country forward.
Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com