The Minority in Parliament is calling on Minister-designates to abstain from assuming the role of presidential representatives.
The NDC Caucus in a statement on Tuesday, March 30, urged the Chief of Staff to retract any unauthorised designations of Minister-designates as representatives of the President.
This call comes amid allegations that the Chief of Staff made temporary appointments for Minister-designates awaiting parliamentary approval, labelling them as 'Representative of the President.'
Dr. Bernard Okoe-Boye, Minister of Health designate, found himself embroiled in this controversy when he conducted inspections at health facilities, purportedly acting as the President’s representative.
However, he refuted any unlawful conduct within the Health Ministry amidst delays in his parliamentary confirmation.
In a statement issued by Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, the Ranking Member on the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health and MP for Juaboso, the Minority underscored that Minister-designates, as nominees of the President, lack the authority to dictate or implement policy changes within ministry agencies.
“The Minister-designate, being solely a nominee of the President, holds no authority to instruct, direct, implement, or propose policy changes for agencies within a sector ministry. Thus, under what authority does he/she summon CEOs and other heads of institutions, who may be occupied with their official duties, to grant him an audience or presentations on their management of state institutions?
“The Minority in Parliament, therefore, advises the Chief of Staff to retract all unauthorized appointments designating Minister-designates as Representatives of the President.
"We further caution those appointed to desist from presenting themselves as Representatives of the President to designated Ministries. We urge all members of the public, particularly public sector workers, not to extend any privilege reserved for Ministers to such individuals.”
The minority highlighted that the 1992 constitution does not support the creation of presidential representatives in State Ministries.
“Therefore, for a highly regulated power centre such as the Presidency, it is beyond the authority of the Chief of Staff, who derives all her powers from the President as outlined by the 1992 constitution, to create new offices not recognized by the constitution.”
The caucus emphasized that a Minister, alongside the power and authority granted by the constitutional instrument of office and enacted legislations, serves as the representative of the President in their respective ministries.
“Hence, it is beyond the authority of the Chief of Staff to attribute the primary function of a Minister to an individual not officially appointed. Article 78(1) of the 1992 constitution stipulates, ‘Ministers of State shall be appointed by the President with the prior approval of Parliament….’
“This clearly indicates that the appointment process can only take place post-approval by Parliament. Therefore, Minister-designates are at most nominees whose presence in government institutions should amount to nothing more than a visit by an ordinary citizen, devoid of ministerial privilege or authority,” the caucus stated.
The Minority further declared it unlawful for any individual to present themselves as a Representative of the President to a Ministry exercising any form of executive authority of overseeing, directing, or controlling state institutions in the name of the President.
“For this reason, where a substantive appointment has not been made to a specific ministry, a Minister appointed to another ministry and equipped with the constitutional instrument of office is directed by the President to act as a 'caretaker' Minister for the ministry,” it added.
Credit: Abubakar Ibrahim