Fifty-five years ago, on October 01, 1969, Mr. Komla Agbeli Gbedemah was barred from entering Ghana’s Parliament. There was a provision in the 1969 constitution, Article 71(2)(b)(ii) and (d), that disqualified him “to be a member of Parliament.” The Electoral Commission (EC), under Vincent Cyril Richard Arthur Charles (V.C.R.A.C.) Crabbe, allowed him to go through with the nomination, got elected by his constituents. All along, he was not a member of Parliament. When he became a member of Parliament on October 01, 1969, then the said Article became “alive and came into force” and that was the interpretation in 1969. His eligibility to file for nomination and stand for election was not an issue at all, and he duly contested and won the parliamentary election.
Fast forward to the current 1992 constitution; the same provisions are replicated, Article 94, however, the current Supreme Court has changed the interpretation “…the time for attaining the eligibility and qualification status therefore comes alive and come into force from the time the EC sets the date to file nominations.”
In the case of Gbedemah, he had hoped that the Supreme Court would rule to quash his conviction before October 01, 1969 but the Court upheld his conviction three days prior.
With the current interpretation a prospective parliamentarian could be convicted after filing his/her nomination and enter Parliament. I think the Supreme Court must review this decision as Ghana’s Parliament could be filled with convicted criminals.
Any one who is of unsound mind or is detained as a criminal lunatic under any law in force in Ghana may be in Parliament simply because the nomination was filed before being found in that state.
Professor Kwaku Asare, aka Kwaku Azar, once asked the question: “The law does not say anything about when this disqualification applies. Is it at the time of filing for the party primary, national election, voting day, or on the first day of Parliament?”
Going by the Gbedemah precedence, I think it is on the first day of Parliament that the qualification becomes “alive and in force” not any time before. It is on the first day of Parliament that one becomes a member of Parliament.
Written by:
Nana Osei Mensah Bonsu
(Migration and Citizenship Consultant)
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