Kufuor wants changes in constitution

President John Agyekum Kufuor delivered his final State of the Nation Address to Parliament yesterday, as required by Article 67 of the Constitution, calling for constitutional amendment in respect of the separation of powers so that parliamentarians will no longer serve as ministers. 

He also advocated changes in the appointment and tenure of office of members of the Electoral Commission.

He said the current situation whereby Members of Parliament double as Ministers did not auger well for democracy because "it contravenes the separation of powers as well as supervision and effective execution of work.'

The out-going President underscored, "It is clear that the demands of the two functions require the full time attention, therefore to expect a full time minister to double as a full time parliamentarian only tends to lead to underperformance of the incumbent.'

He noted that 'this combination gives undue psychological advantage over the ordinary legislator and impedes the needed checks and balances from the two.'

On the appointment and tenure of office of the Electoral Commission, the President said 'a review of the mandate of members of Ghana's independent Electoral Commission every six years is necessary to build on their neutrality.'

According to him, renewing their mandate every six years would go a long way to ensuring public trust in the Commission and make it more accountable.

'The country has been fortunate with the current Commission whose core members have by and large conducted themselves professionally

 There is no doubt, however, that generally, it is risky to have a referee that enjoys permanent security of tenure.'

He continued, 'I therefore recommend for the consideration of this House and the nation a system which will retain the absolute independence of the Commission but, also provide all its members with specific term tenure.

Consideration could be given to a six-year two-term arrangement overlapping Parliament.'

President Kufuor suggested that the appointment and renewal of EC officials should be vested in a specifically constituted electoral collage to underpin a 'sustained public trust in the Commission and also make it accountable to the people.'

In addition to these, the out-going President also proposed to the in-coming government to take a closer look at the petro-chemical sector, oil and gas development, $90m on railway modernization system as well as Integrated Bauxite-Aluminum industry, to ensure that Volta Aluminum Company Limited was revived fully for expansion works to be done on it.

He advocated for state funding of political parties with credible support and large following, and congratulated Prof Mills on winning the presidential poll.

He also eulogized Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for putting up a good fight, saying that he would have loved to hand over to some body from his own party 'but the EC has decided otherwise' and so in the true sense of democracy they had accepted the verdict.

The out-going President called for more consensus among Members of Parliament to ensure smooth running of the business of House.

Majority Leader, Abraham Ossei Aidooh, thanked the President for coming to deliver the address as required.

The Minority Leader, Alban Bagbin, 'sincerely' thanked President Kufuor for his message. 'It is an indication that the longer the better.

We have taken notice of the tone of the President"s message and we will take steps to rectify the challenges, and the House will improve on consensus building.'

However, some members of the House disagreed with some of the President's suggestions.

Joseph Yelieh Chireh, (NDC, Wa Central) strongly disagreed to one of the suggestions, especially with call for MPs not to serve as Ministers.

 'Why should our own case be different? This practice of MPs servings as Ministers is carried out all over the world, so I do not see any thing wrong with our system here,' he stressed.

Samuel Sallas Mensah, Chairman of the Appointments Committee who is also a Member of the Consultative Assembly that crafted the 1992 Constitution, stated that there was a particular spirit in that provision which made sense at the time but 'we have been experimenting with this constitution for about 16 years, so if it is time to change it then we have to find the means to do it.'

MPs who spoke to this paper agreed with Yelieh Chereh, saying that that system works perfectly in Britain.

In his contribution, Hackman Owusu-Agyemang stated that the President"s address was well crafted and non-controversial.

Though he disagreed with some of the President's views, he said the issues raised were worthy of consideration hence the MPs will work together as a team to consider it.

First Deputy Majority Whip Kweku Balado Manu, stated that the President's message was very thought-provoking

 He was however, of the view that it would be essential to separate the legislature from the executive 'as it breeds divided attention.'

He added that though 'some Ministers might disagree with certain policies of government, they find it difficult voicing it out because they might be afraid of being reshuffled.