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Tackling The Bull By The Horn: Hon. Aaron Mike Oquaye Cannot Be Right About Ghana’s Republic Day

By Yusif Gariba
Opinion Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Michael Oquaye
JAN 15, 2018 LISTEN
Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Michael Oquaye

The speaker of Parliament, ever since he assumed his position has made, with malicious intensions, several attempts to either truncate or erase Kwame Nkrumah’s contribution to the independence and sovereignty of Ghana and it’s about time we the Nkrumahists called him to a halt. His recent attack was on the celebration of 1st July as Ghana’s Republic Day. The 1st July is Ghana’s Republic Day and not 7th January.

WHAT 1ST JULY MEANS TO GHANAIANS
1st July means a lot more to Ghanaians than any other historic day in reference to our sovereignty as a state. After independence, Ghana was still governed under the British Order in Council (1957-1960) as the highest law of the land. This was the major British condition under which Ghana won her independence. Under the Order in Council, in article 6, “The executive power is vested in the Queen and may be exercised by the Queen or by the Governor General as her representative.” Kwame Nkrumah was neither the Queen nor the Governor General, he was the Prime Minister under the Order, therefore the Ghana’s current Speaker of Parliament, Mike Oquaye, is incorrect to state, “Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was the Head of Government vested with executive power of state,” in his argument to change Ghana’s Republic Day from 1st July to 7th January, in his article published on January 9th 2018, titled …. Although Ghana had sanguinely discomfited British colonial rule, remnants of the British colonial political system persisted, which subjected us to the rule of the Queen of England, hence we were far from a sovereign people. The people of Ghana led by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s socialist government set the task to burst forth from any stroke of British colonialism, aiming at the highest law of the land.

Ghanaians elected representatives that formed the Constituent Assembly to draft a republican constitution which became operational on 1st July, 1960 after a National Plebiscite with a yes vote of 88.47%; therefore, Ghana’s sovereign republic was declared. The 1960 constitution is the first and only democratic constitution of Ghana by its drafting process and the process through which it became operational. All other constitutions have been drafted undemocratically [subject to military dictatorships] and come into force undemocratically as a combination of undemocratic means. As far as we possess international sovereignty as Ghanaians, it must manifest in our political, economic and cultural life, 1st July demonstrates this phenomenon.

The British applied their own colonial imperialist style of governance in our territory under their colonial rule, which was evident in the Prime Minister portfolio with the Queen as the Head of State, after 1st July, Ghana had realized the urgent necessity to define our own democracy, hence restructured the political system, rescinded the British political style, and introduced the National Assembly and the presidential system under the guidance of the democratically drafted and enacted constitution. We shouldn’t be surprised why Busia, under the NLC Presidential Commission, re-introduced the Prime Minister system in 1969. Busia had no clue to independent African political administration, so had to blindly copy the British system. Ghana had attained her sovereignty, therefore the Queen couldn’t be the Head of State and we didn’t have any Supreme Monarch system, as in Europe, in our country.

This made it unnecessary to re-introduce this system; unless he was ready to submit to the Asantehene or any of the monarchs in the country as at that time. Along with this charade, the NLC ridiculously named Edward Akuffo Addo as the Ceremonial President; with both unelected military and police officers A.A. Afrifa and J.W.K. Harlley lording over him on the Presidential Commission. The 1st July gave Ghanaians a matured and spiritual sense of pride, power, freedom and sovereignty, but taking it away from Ghanaians means the reversal of the stated achievements. The Speaker emphasized in his article that “Ghana emerged the first country south of the Sahara to become independent from colonial rule.”

This fact is totally incorrect because Liberia, which is also south of the Sahara, got their independence on 26th July, 1847, and joined the U.N in 1954, on 2nd November. Sudan, which is also south of the Sahara, attained her independence in 1956, 1 January, and joined the U.N on 12th the same year. 1st July acts as the foundation in which Ghana’s sovereignty was built and abolishing it today is analogous to destroying the foundation of an already built house in an attempt to rebuild a new foundation, but a much weaker one, under the house. This is inconceivable, but Mike Oquaye is hypocritically hiding behind the mask of democracy and law to do this.

WHAT 7TH JANUARY MEAN TO GHANAIANS
In his legal sense, Hon. Prof Mike Oquaye may be right when he says that Ghana's Republic day should fall on 7th January and not 1st July. 1st July as a Republic Day has no current constitutional basis whereas the former has, since the 1992 constitution is the Supreme law of the land and not the 1960 constitution. But one thing must be made clear, the constitutional vacuum created by the abrogation of the 1960 constitution following the 1966 illegal overthrow of the government of Kwame Nkrumah, cannot be filled, in anyway with the 1992 constitution, and the same applies to other past constitutions [69/79] of Ghana; as they are unfit for the purpose by virtue of their illegitimacy and the undemocratic means through which they were written and enacted.

1. As a common knowledge, Ghana's current 1992 constitution came into force on 7th January 1993. This day not only signifies when the 1992 constitution was promulgated, but also a day impunity and injustice reigned over accountability and justice. And Ghana's so called 4th Republic leaders pride themselves with the 1992 constitution as if to say the constitution is the Holy Bible or the Holy Quran when in reality, it is the devil's handiwork, a mockery to true democracy and an insult to the conscience of the good people of Ghana.

There should be no indemnity in democracy, democracy and justice go hand in hand. People must be made to account for the crimes they have committed no matter the longevity since it was committed. It is in light of this that we cannot fathom why a constitution that is credited to have ushered Ghana into democracy would indemnify the abrogation of the 1960 constitution by a violent military junta known as the National Liberation Council (NLC).

The NLC usurped the mandate of Ghanaians with the violence of the gun. They killed those who resisted and never, were made to account for this crime till all the members took their turns visiting the land of no return. Nobody is calling for their skeletons to be exhumed from where they lie in peace in order to be tried, No! That's insanity. What we are calling for is burying their constitutional and legal ghosts [decrees] with them to allow justice to take its course. Many are those who are suffering and continue to suffer because of that crime and invariable, the progeny of the few who took part in committing the crime continue to enjoy from the loot of their fathers and grandfathers as a result of the crime. And this is exactly the injustice the 1992 constitution is perpetuating and preventing Ghanaians from dealing with, by indemnifying those (covering the loot) who took part in it, all in the name of national reconciliation. Which just constitution tampers justice with indemnity?

2. 7th July is a day military dictatorial legislation took precedence over the will of Ghanaians.

This day represents a sharp deviation from the democratic procedure for the drafting and promulgation of constitutions. The PNDC headed by Flt Lt. J. J Rawlings as a military dictator, appointed a Consultative Assembly and a Committee of Experts and paid them to write the 1992 constitution under the intimidation of the gun.

We all know that by the fear of death, you can coerce most people to do anything, with a gun pointed to their head. Armed robberies would be impossible without instruments of violence. How do we trust the Consultative Assembly and Committee of Experts (who are supposed to be elected, not and I repeat, not appointed) to have done a yeoman's job when Rawlings had the gun in his hands pointed to their heads? And by the content of the constitution it becomes almost a given that members of the Consultative Assembly wrote to massage the ego of the dictator and to escape his wrath.

What is my evidence? The constitution indemnifies the dictator from any legal action for the crimes he has committed against the Ghanaian people from 1979 to 1992. But today he parades himself as the father of probity and accountability. Let strip him of that indemnity and let him account for the crimes he and his gang perpetuated; certainly the current 1992 constitution wouldn't fit for that purpose.

The referendum held for the constitution was at a time when all political activities were banned. This means no political party could rally support against the constitution as it should have been the case in a real democratic sense. President Akuffo Addo's father, Edward Akuffo Addo was made the chairman of the Constitutional Commission of the NLC in 1966, with Ofori Atta, Victor Owusu, Et Al as members. Their recommendation to the leaders of the NLC was to allow for general elections of a Constituent Assembly to enact the next constitution since the 1960 Republican constitution was suspended.

His recommendation was strongly objected to by the NLC and therefore a few people were appointed to write the 1969 constitution. The 1992 constitution is not so different from the 1969 with regards to their content, like the Indemnity Clause, and very similar with regards to the procedures used in drafting the constitution. So I ask, which constitution is Prof Mike Oquaye so infatuated with to the extent of proposing we mark the day of its coming into force as our Republic Day? Holy Jesus! A constitution that even Edward Akuffo Addo and other pacesetters of the Dankwah-Busia-Dombo tradition won't be happy with? (when the devil condemns something as bad, then you know what you're dealing with is real bad).

As to why our speaker of parliament would go this far is something also that I don't understand because he knows better than anyone else.

But what befuddles me more is when the members of NPP who want us to believe they are men of rule of law, join the bandwagon to deepen the constitutional mess. Do they join out of ignorance or fear of the fury of the dictator? No Ghanaian would believe me if I say it is out of the former, but I can bet my pocket on the latter. If that is the case, let me serve a reminder to them, the dictator has no gun anymore. Or is it in line with the grand plan to undo anything Kwame Nkrumah, which they do passionately even when it runs contrary with their own self-professed ‘property owning democracy’. What is a man without principle?

That notwithstanding, the constitution was subject to one man's approval before it was presented to a minority to be voted upon and forced on Ghanaians as their new constitution. Do you call this a constitution?

If there's anything we should be ashamed of as Ghanaians, our current constitution more than qualifies because it is blemish to our trademark as Ghanaians.

WHY 7TH JANUARY MUST NOT BE CELEBRATED BY GHANAIANS?

We have stressed earlier that all independent sovereign states must give their own independent definition of democracy and its related terminologies. Is Republic defined as total freedom and sovereignty from any form of external and illegal occupation and dominance or defined as the replacement of indigenous military dictators by civilians under the guidance, dictates and direction of the same military dictator in power. The Speaker of Parliament, Mike Oquaye argued that, the 1969 constitution ushered in the second republic. The 1969 constitution was not mandated by the Ghanaian electorate.

The constitution was drafted by a constitutional commission appointed by the NLC under the NLC decree 102, “Constitutional Commission Decree,” It states in article of N.L.C.D 102, “to cause to be drawn up a draft Constitution for Ghana.” This Commission was paid by the NLC (“the Commission may be paid such renumeration as the National Liberation Council may approve”) and was chaired by Edward Akuffo Addo, the biological father of our current president, Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo Addo.

The Commission recommended that the Constituent Assembly must be subjected to a general election, which was rejected by the NLC and instead forced the enacting assembly as the law of Ghana by NLC Decree 380, the ‘Constituent Assembly Amendment Decree. It states, “Subject to the provision of this Decree, the Constituent Assembly established by the Constituent Assembly (NO. 2) Decree, 1968 ( N.L.C.D 299) shall have full power to enact and bring into force a Constitution for Ghana and the Assembly shall ensure so far as practicable the enactment and coming into force of the constitution shall take place on or before Friday the 22nd day of August, 1969”. It is certain that these conditions do not portray any republican and democratic trait. The 1992 constitution, which was emphasized by the speaker as the gateway to the 4th republic of Ghana exhibits similar military dictatorial characteristics. J. J. Rawlings, the Chairman of the PNDC appointed a Consultative Assembly under the P.N.D.C LAW 253, ‘The consultative Assembly Decree,’ which granted the Consultative Assembly, Headed by SKB Asante as Chair of the Committee of Experts, the power to draft the 1992 constitution without any mandate from the Ghanaian electorate.

The 1992 constitution “came into force on 7th January, 1993 after a referendum which presented Ghanaians with a choice of either agreeing to the imposed constitution or continuing under Rawlings military dictatorial rule. There is even evidence to attest that the date for which the said action was supposed to take place, 7th January, was declared before the referendum and its results, so it was bound to happen with or without the referendum because military dictators do not submit to the mandate of the people. 7th January is a mockery to democracy and an embarrassment to all Ghanaians and is not worthy of celebration.

THE NKRUMAHIST CIRCLE.

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