The Member of Parliament for Abuakwa South, Atta Akyea, has called for article 82 in the 1992 constitution to be amended.
He sees no reasoning behind that aspect of the constitution, which allows the president to keep a minister that “Parliament hates.”
Quoting the constitution to anchor his opinion at the second seminar organized by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) under the theme: “Reviewing Ghana’s 1992 Constitution, Viewpoints from parliament,” he strongly objects to the aspect of the constitution which suggests that “the president may keep a minister” censured by Parliament unless the minister decides to resign.
“It’s an outrageous proposition,” he stressed.
“I want to quote article 82(5) which says that if a vote of censure is passed against a minister, the president may (emphasized) unless the minister resigns from his office revoke his appointment as a minister.”
“I will not find any exercise, so redundant that members of parliament converge and pass a vote of censure against the minister, and it’s at the pleasure of the president to kick the man out or not. It’s a foul constitutional provision, and I think it is one of them that I think should be subjected to amendment,” he added
“As it stands now, the constitution is too open, and I believe that we must do something about it. If you look at article 78 (1), it has given the president space to choose the majority of ministers from parliament. You can’t be effective in parliament when you are selected by the president as a minister and also play oversight over the executive.
This he asserts limits the decision-making of an MP, and he or she can’t even vote against the budget presented by the appointing authority.
Speaking on constitutional amendments, the first deputy speaker, Joe Osei-Owusu, espoused that, despite the defects or shortcomings of the current constitution, an amendment may not necessarily lead to the expected leadership and development to cause a paradigm shift toward economic and democratic prosperity.
He upheld his views calling for a national orientation in how citizens think.