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Proposed
Presidential Transitional Bill on review
Accra, Sept. 18, Ghanadot/GNA – Registered political parties
on Thursday met to review a proposed Presidential
Transitional Bill, designed to establish arrangements for
the political transfer of administration from one
democratically-elected president to another.
A 15-page Memorandum covering the 12-page draft bill noted
that the transition from the National Democratic Congress (NDC)
government to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government in
2001 was the first time in Ghana that political power was
constitutionally transferred from one ruling party to
another of a different political persuasion.
It said due to lack of precedent, several mistakes were made
that led to a polarisation of the country, adding that the
lessons learnt from the 2001 transition were that there was
need for thorough preparations for future transitions by
agreeing on a multi-partisan framework and ground rules and
regulations to govern and guide the process.
The draft bill was initiated by the Ghana Political Parties
Programme (GPPP) and the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA)
and done by Mr. Justice V. C. R. A. C Crabbe, Commissioner
for State Law Review at the Attorney-General’s Office.
Mr Paul Victor, a private consultant and Dr Arthur Kennedy,
Communications Director of the Nana Akufo-Addo Campaign,
prepared the initial papers that eventually led to the draft
bill.
Political party representatives attending a day’s workshop
to review the draft bill addressed themselves to the
historical background of the draft bill to ensure that it
was accurately captured and they also worked on the draft to
make it concise and clear.
Mr Obeng noted that it was necessary to ensure that the
historical backdrop as stated in the memo to the draft bill
was accurate “else we will proceed on a wrong footing.”
He said the rationale for seeking to make the final bill
concise and clear was to cut out all the details that had
the potential of inflaming passions rather than uniting the
country.
On the draft bill and its accompanying memo, participants
raised questions bordering on the title of the bill, the
relevance or otherwise of the transitional council, the
rationale for putting the Chief Justice at the head of a
transitional council and the constitutionality of the
language of the draft bill.
Some also had issues with the real reasons behind the
current rancour between the two leading political parties,
saying that other factors rather than the transitional
process were responsible.
Nana Ato Dadzie, Chief of Staff under the National
Democratic Congress (NDC), noted that some of the reasons
for the rancour were that the transitional period was too
short, especially for the loser to have taken proper
inventory and a meaningful handing over.
He suggested that a permanent transitional administrative
back-up office should be opened to take inventory of the
entire period of a government to ensure proper handing over.
Nana Dadzie also mentioned the breakdown in communication
between the NDC and NPP following post-transition
animosities as the cause for the rancour.
“For instance this is the first time in eight years that I
am seeing Mr Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey since I handed over the
Castle to him as Chief of Staff and that is a problem,” he
said.
Mr. Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, former Chief of Staff during
President Kufuor’s first term, said the source of the
rancour dated back to pre-election rather than
post-transitional animosities.
Mr Akoto Amapaw, a lawyer, said the language of the draft
bill was not consistent with the constitutional language,
saying that the constitution talked about “executive
authority” and not administration so the language should be
that of the transfer of executive authority and not
administration.
While Frances Essiam of the Democratic Freedom Party said
putting the Chief Justice at the head of the Transitional
Council compromised the CJ’s insulated position.
Mr. Kwamena Ahwoi, former Minister of Local Government and
Rural Development, said the entire council should be
abolished because its work had been sufficiently taken care
of in the 1992 Constitution.
GNA
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