A private legal practitioner, Lawyer Maurice Ampaw has said that even the Supreme court do not have the mandate to direct the President on how to appoint public officials.
He explained that their mandate with regards to the appointment is to ensure that the President wont violate any provision of the constitution.
This comes on the back of comments raised following the appointment of three members of the Electoral Commission’s board- as Rockson Nelson Dafeamekpor, South Dayi MP has petitioned the court to challenge the appointment of two out of three members, as he explained that they are affiliated to the NPP.
Lawyer Maurice Ampaw added that there are many lawyers who are affiliated to one party or the other, but they will never declare their stance openly.
“We don’t know one’s political affiliation- if that is the case, then the appointment of public officials by the President will also be challenged. Does Dafeamekpor wants to tie the President’s hand and direct him on what to do”, questioned him.
“Even the Supreme Court dare not direct the President on how to make his appointment, they don’t have that mandate. Where in the constitution that says if you are a member of a political party, you can never occupy a public office,”, he stressed.
This comes after the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Dayi, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamkepor, has taken legal action to challenge the appointment of two new members to the Electoral Commission’s Board, Hajia Salima Ahmed Tijani and Dr. Peter Appiahene.
In his lawsuit, Mr. Dafeamkepor has named the Electoral Commission and the Attorney General of Ghana as defendants and is seeking to have the appointment revoked, as well as an order restraining the two members from acting as part of the Board.
The appointment of the two new members has been met with criticism from the public and civil society organizations who have accused them of being affiliated with the governing New Patriotic Party.
The opposition National Democratic Congress has also written to the Council of State to reconsider its advice to the President on the appointment of the two new board members.
In his lawsuit, Mr. Dafeamkepor is seeking several declarations related to the qualifications and impartiality of members of the Electoral Commission, as well as an order revoking the appointment of the two members and an injunction restraining them from acting as part of the Board.