Prime News Ghana

Speaker of Parliament to be sworn in as President again

By Clement Edward Kumsah
Speaker_of_Parliament_Prof_Aaron_Mike_Ocquaye
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Speaker of Parliament Prof Aaron Mike Oquaye will on Saturday, January 27 be sworn in for the second time as President of Ghana. 

The decision to swear in the Speaker of Parliament is as a result of  President Nana Akufo-Addo’s booked trip to Addis Ababa for the AU Summit.

The first time the Speaker of Parliament was sworn in as acting President of Ghana was when President Akufo-Addo left Ghana for Liberia, as a guest at the swearing in of the President-elect of Liberia George Weah.

The Speaker of Parliament Aaron Mike Oquaye acts as the President of Ghana due to the absence of the Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia in the country.

Speaker of Parliament sworn in as acting President

The Vice President, Dr Bawumia,  left Ghana for the United Kingdom on Friday night January 19 for a  medical leave after he took ill in the early hours of Friday.

Dr Mahamudu Bawumia in UK for a Medical Leave

Dr Mahamudu Bawumia in the late hours of Friday, 19th January 2018, left Ghana for the United Kingdom for a medical leave.

According to a letter signed by the Chief of Staff, Frema Opare said, Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia left for London on the advice of his doctors.

The legality of swearing-in Speaker of Parliament as President

According to Article 60 (11) and (12) of the 1992 Constitution, “(11) Where the President and the Vice-President are both unable to perform the functions of the President, the Speaker of Parliament shall perform those functions until the President or the Vice-President is able to perform those functions or a new President assumes office, as the case may be.” “(12) The Speaker shall, before commencing to perform the functions of the President under clause (11) of this article, take and subscribe the oath set out in relation to the office of President.”

Some political scientists are challenging the interpretation of the constitution. They argue that since the elected President, Nana Akufo-Addo is still acting in his capacity as President on the international front, adding that the law is obsolete, considering that a President on an international assignment remains a President, and so he or she doesn’t need anyone to act in his absence.

However, in 2015, the Supreme Court in a unanimous decision, declared that the then Speaker of Parliament, Edward Doe Adjaho, violated Article 60 (11)-(12) of the 1992 Constitution when he declined to be sworn in to act as President when both the President and his Vice travelled.

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