Vice-presidency is creation of Constitution - Dr Quashigah
Parents of rape victims asked not to accept compensation
Abingya appointed Acting Minister of Mines and Energy
Asabigi calls for change of attitude towards disabled
Photographers asked to use camera for social causes
Vice-presidency is creation of Constitution - Dr Quashigah
Accra (Greater Accra) 9 Dec. ’99
Dr Kofi Quashigah, a senior lecturer at the University of Ghana, Legon, on Wednesday said the office of Vice-President owes its existence to the Constitution and not to the Presidency.
He said even though the Vice-President is designated by the presidential candidate before elections, he is nevertheless, elected by the electorate, quoting Article 60 (2) of the Constitution to buttress his assertion.
Dr Quashigah was leading a round-table discussion on the "Vice-President (Succession) Bill, 1999", which, among other things, seeks to provide for the appointment and removal of the Vice-President in certain cases.
A memorandum accompanying the two-clause bill explained that the Constitution is silent on the appointment to the office of Vice-President, where the incumbent dies, resigns or is removed from office.
The Constitution also does not stipulate what should happen when the Vice-President joins a party in opposition to the President.
The bill, therefore, seeks to fill these loopholes, using the residual powers of Parliament in Article 298 of the Constitution.
The legislature is mandated to provide for matters to be dealt with where there is no provision or by necessary implication in the Constitution, to deal with them.
While most of the participants at the forum did not find any fault with clause one of the bill, which provides for the succession of the Vice-President, they found clause two, which deals with the vacation of office of the Vice-President, very controversial.
Clause one states in part that ''subject to Article 60 (2) of the Constitution, the President shall designate a successor to the office of the Vice-President for the unexpired term if the incumbent dies, resigns or is removed from office".
Clause Two, among other things, states: "If the Vice-President conducts himself in a manner likely to or in such a manner as to bring him into direct conflict with the President, he shall be deemed to have resigned his office".
Dr Quashigah said the Vice-President exists and is in office not at the will and pleasure of the President but by virtue of the Constitution.
He saw the bill as a proposed amendment or alteration of certain matters of Chapter Eight of the Constitution, saying the chapter is an entrenched provision and must be amended or altered in consonance with Chapter 25 of Article 290 of the Constitution.
He said the purported exercise of the powers of Parliament under Article 298 of the Constitution, is made subject to the provisions of Chapter 25 of the Constitution.
Dr Quashigah, therefore, said Article 290 (Chapter 25) amendment procedure requires a referendum.
"A constitutionally proper amendment or alteration as is being proposed in the bill, must go through the referendum process".
Dr Quashigah said that Clause 2 (2) of the bill raises some important constitutional questions.
He asked: "who determines that the conduct of the Vice-President is likely to or is such as to bring him into direct conflict with the President.
Again, he wanted to know whether it would be the President, the Legislature or the court, for instance, that would effect the removal from office in case the Vice-President does not consider himself as having resigned.
He questioned whether the letter and spirit of the Constitution permit the degree of subjection of the Vice-President to the 'whims and caprices' of the President as Clause 2 (2) seeks to imply.
Attempting to find answers to the questions, Dr Quashigah said it would almost invariably be the President who would determine the existence of a conduct that is likely to bring about the conflict.
He said in the absence of a clear indication, the answer to the second question follows from the first, that it would be the President himself who would likely enforce his decision.
He acknowledged that the executive authority of the country is vested in the President under Article 58 (1), but pointed out that with certain exceptions and restrictions, the President has authority for the government of the Ghana.
Nevertheless, he said, the Constitution considers the government as an entity different from, and wider than the President.
"Executive power, though vested in the President, is made subject to other provisions of the Constitution", he added.
Some of the contributors said since a Vice-President, who has become President as a result of the death, resignation or removal of the incumbent, can appoint a Vice-President, it stands to reason that the sitting President can also appoint a Vice-President when he dies, resigns or is removed from office.
Other contributors urged the legislature to resist any attempt to create a condition that would make it easier for the President to remove the Vice-President.
While a contributor noted that Clause 2 (2) of the bill attempts to make the Vice-President a mere appendage to the President another wondered whether it would be in the interest of the nation in a situation where there is a conflict between the President and the Vice-President.
Mr Justice V.C.R.A.C. Crabbe, a former Judge of the Superior Court of Judicature and former Electoral Commissioner chaired the function.
He commended the National Democratic Institute (NDI), sponsors of the forum and invited views on the bill from the public to enable the country to have a consensus on the legislation.
"We all have a stake in the matter. The issues raised in the bill are not for the legislators alone".
Participants included Members of Parliament and representatives from political parties, the government, academia, civil society, media, donor and diplomatic communities.
GRi../
Parents of rape victims asked not to accept compensation
Accra (Greater Accra) 9 Nov. ’99
Mrs. Dorcas Coker- Appiah, a member of the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) on Wednesday advised parents of rape victims not to accept compensation from rapists but to seek redress from the law courts.
"If we do not expose the perpetrators, they will continue with their deeds," Mrs Coker-Appiah said at a seminar on "Violence against Women."
It was organised by the Allied Women Group of the Mount Olivet Methodist Church at Dansoman in collaboration with Women in Law and Development (WILDAF) in Accra.
The seminar aims at educating and building consensus among women to protect themselves from all forms of violence.
She said most parents and families refuse to report rape cases because they do not want to tarnish their image.
Mrs Coker-Appiah noted that women and children, who keep mute over rape issues or report it very late make the work of law enforcing officers difficult and complicated since the evidence must have been destroyed.
"Some of these children and women who are raped go through a long time of trauma which could jeopardise their future."
Mrs Coker-Appiah, who is also the National co-ordinator of WILDAF, said records of reported rape cases indicate that the rapist either lives within the same community or is a family relation.
She said rapists should be given the needed education adding, "if we do not do anything about it, the practice will continue."
Ms Lucy Osei, Executive Secretary of WILDAF, noted that domestic violence against women is mainly the result of alcoholism and drug abuse.
Ms Osei appealed to Members of Parliament and the assembly members to encourage the formation of community watchdog committees to patrol the streets to protect life and property in Dansoman.
Ms Theresa Amerley Tagoe, MP for the area, who chaired the function, said most of the problems "in our communities are due to lack of communication on the part of parents".
She urged parents to have time for their wards so that they will be able to come out with issues affecting them.
Ms Tagoe advised the participants to make good use of institutions such as FIDA, Women and Juvenile Unit of the Police Service and the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice when the need arises.
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Abingya appointed Acting Minister of Mines and Energy
Accra (Greater Accra) 9 Dec. ’99
President Jerry John Rawlings on Wednesday appointed Mr. Simon Abingya, a Deputy Minister and Member of Parliament for Bolgatanga, to act as the Minister of Mines and Energy.
A release signed by the Secretary to the President, Mr. J. L. M. Amissah said Mr Abingya would act pending the appointment of a substantive Minister.
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Asabigi calls for change of attitude towards disabled
Tamale (Northern Region) 9 Dec. ’99
Mr. San Nasamu Asabigi, Deputy Northern Regional Minister, said on Wednesday that the government is committed to a policy of reintegrating disabled persons into the society to make them assets rather than liabilities.
The Government has, therefore, taken measures to improve facilities in all schools for the disabled to enable them to acquire and improve on their skills, the Deputy Minister said at a public forum in Tamale to mark "International Day for People with Disabilities".
It was on the theme "Disability, a visible human right" and aimed at sensitising the public about the plight of the disabled.
Mr. Asabigi said in designing public structures, care should be taken to recognise the peculiar needs of the disabled and called for a change of attitude towards the disabled and they should also be treated with respect and dignity.
Mr. Justice Seidu Mumuni, Vice President of the Organisation of People with Disability (OPWD), expressed regret that "issues about the disabled are not treated with so much concern as those about women and children".
Other speakers at the forum appealed to the public to desist from using derogatory names against the disabled.
They commended Action on Disability and Development, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) concerned with the plight of the disabled, for its untiring efforts to integrate people with physical disabilities into society.
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Photographers asked to use camera for social causes
Accra (Greater Accra) 9 Dec. ’99
Mr. Kofi Sekyiamah, Director of the Information Services Department, on Wednesday called on photographers to use the camera to win support for social causes such as the fight against poverty, homelessness, AIDS, refugee crises and environmental degradation.
He said "your pictures have moved people to respond to crisis situations in times of famine, war and floods".
Mr Sekyiamah was speaking at the congress of the Ghana Union of Professional Photographers (GUPP) in Accra.
The congress, on the theme "Challenges of the Photo Industry in Ghana - Its impact as a partner in national building in the next millennium" was attended by more than 300 delegates.
Photography, just like the written word is a permanent way of recording vivid events and activities going on in the country.
"The reliance on images for knowledge has become even more significant in this visual age where the mass media has gradually converted our world of reading into viewing".
Mrs Felicia Abban, Ghana's first woman professional photographer and the National Chairperson of GUPP, said the photo industry in Ghana has seen dramatic changes since its introduction to the then Gold Coast.
She said the changes had reflected on equipment and training for photographers with technology playing more roles by taking over some of the traditional human roles.
The union was formed 12 years ago with a total membership of 1,080, "this has dropped to only 30 due to problems facing it", Mr Dan Jim Selassie, General Secretary of GUPP said.
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