Civil Society Coalition On Presidential Transition Bill Lauds Parliament

The Civil Society Coalition on the Presidential Transition Bill has commended the leadership and entire Members of Parliament for their efforts towards the passage of The Presidential Transition Bill.

It is gratifying to note that the Bill is currently at the consideration stage in Parliament, a statement from the coalition indicated.

It however pointed out that the timely passage of the Bill into Law was paramount and therefore appealed to Parliament to expedite the process for the passage of the Bill in order to give adequate time for effective implementation before the 2012 General Elections.

“ We also commend His Excellency the President and members of his Government for their commitment towards the passage of this Bill. It is an important milestone towards democratic consolidation in Ghana for Cabinet to recommend the passage of this Bill. We humbly appeal to His Excellency The President to assent to the Bill once it is passed” the statement added.

It further appealed to President JEA Mills to put in place the necessary institutional framework to ensure the full implementation of the Bill whilst it called on the Government to make adequate resources available to ensure its full operation before the 2012 elections.

According to the statement, building strong institutions to enhance accountability and improve governance remained essential to sustain our multi-party democracy.

It recalled that the 2001 and 2009 transitions revealed several lapses including a lack of accountability and weak institutions.

It is against this background that Civil Society supported and advocated for the passage of The Presidential Transition Bill, the statement pointed out.

The Civil Society Coalition on the Presidential Transition Bill is made up of the National Peace Council, the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition, the National Catholic Secretariat, ABANTU for Development, the Trade Union Congress, the Ghana Journalist’s Association and the Institute of Economic Affairs.

The coalition also commended all stakeholders most importantly the Political Parties for their commitment to the process to date.

Buoyed by the commitment shown by all those involved to date, we the Civil Society Coalition will continue to monitor these final processes leading to the passage and implementation of the Bill.

The Bill is an initiative of The IEA and the Ghana Political Parties Programme, the Bill provides a framework for managing the political transfer of power from an out-going democratically elected President to an incoming President. The Bill was developed through extensive consultation with a broad range of stakeholders including the Political Parties and civil society.