The Managing Editor of the Searchlight Newspaper has petitioned Parliament to invoke and operationalize Article 68 (2) of the 1992 Constitution and halt former President John Dramani Mahama from making a comeback to the presidency.
According to Kenneth Agyei Kuranchie who described himself as a Ghanaian citizen, Article 68 (2) makes all former Presidents wards of Parliament and therefore, as wards, require permission of the legislature to engage in all activities if such activities bring them profit or emolument or both or amount to office, duty, job or hireling.
He argued Mr. John Mahama has picked nomination forms to contest for an office with a partisan political party organization, the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) and vying for its Office of flagbearer.
Mr. Kuranchie questioned whether the NDC as the biggest opposition party in the country is not an ‘establishment’ under Article 68 (2) which states, “The President shall not, on leaving office as President, hold any office of profit or emolument, except with the permission of Parliament, in any establishment, either directly or indirectly, other than that of the State.”
He stated that through the instrumentality of Article 68 (2), former President Mahama has been receiving monies (profits) from members of the public and cited some examples where party stalwarts have offered financial considerations to support his campaign.
Mr. Kuranchie questioned whether the position of the ‘flagbearer’ of a partisan political organization is not an ‘Office of the State’ within the intendment of the constitutional clause, Article 68 (2), and therefore bars the former President from vying for the NDC flagbearership.
According to him, “In the light of the prevailing, it has become urgently necessary that Parliament invoke its constitutional powers of oversight over former Presidents, and with regard to former President John Dramani Mahama, to establish the following;
(i) Is the National Democratic Congress (NDC) an ‘establishment’ within the intendment of Article 68 (2)?
(ii) If the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is not an ‘establishment’ within the intendment of Article 68 (2), then what is it?
(iii) If the NDC is an establishment within the intendment of Article 68 (2) of the1992 Constitution, then, is the position of ‘flag bearer’ an ‘office’ within the intendment of the said article?
(iv) Is the said office an ‘Office of the State’, within the intendment of Article 68 (2) of the 1992 Constitution?
(v) Would any emolument or profit accrue to the office so described in (iii) above;
(vi) How are Ghanaians to be assured as to the level of profit and emolument accruing to this office and its intended use, and whether such use would be in tandem with the aspirations of the ‘State’ within the intendment of Article 68 (2) and
(vii) If the answer is ‘yes’ to the above questions; does Mr. Mahama require permission of Parliament to vie for such an office; and
(viii) Is Parliament in a position to grant such a legal right to the former President, that is, whether parliament has the power to grant the leave or waiver to the former President to contest for the position of ‘flag bearer’ within the intendment of Article 68 (2) of the 1992 Constitution, or not, that is, and Whether the position of the ‘flagbearer’ of a partisan political organization is an ‘Office of the State’ within the intendment of the above constitutional clause and therefore he cannot vie for the office so specified above.
