Suspension of Chief Justice: President Mahama acted within the remits of the law – Edudzi tells GBA

Acting CEO of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) and Director of Legal Affairs, National Democratic Congress (NDC), Godwin Edudzi Tameklo, has told the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) that President John Dramani Mahama did no wrong in the way he handled the petitions against the Chief Justice.

Edudzi said the resident acted within the remit of the law, hence has not violated the constitution.

“The bar is obviously on a wayward path and must be made to understand that the President has acted within the remits of the law,” he said on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday, May 3.

The GBA had described the action of the President as unconstitutional due to the absence of legal backing for the exercise of presidential discretion.

The GBA had said that any discretionary powers exercised under Article 296 of the 1992 Constitution must be regulated by law to prevent abuse and ensure transparency.

“Subject to exercise discretion under article 296, they ought to have been made regulations like a constitutional instrument before exercising such discretion because the essence is to govern, how it is exercised so that it doesn’t get abused,” the Public Relations Officer of the GBA, Saviour Kudze, explained.

He added that members of the GBA, during a meeting held on Saturday, April 26, were unanimous in their view that the President had acted outside the bounds of the Constitution.

“That is all we are saying, that in the absence of that regulation, the membership at the meeting on Saturday were of the view that the President had not done well because he had acted unconstitutionally because no constitutional instrument had been passed before he exercised the discretion,” Kudze stated.

This strong stance follows an official GBA statement dated April 26, in which the Association called for the immediate reversal of the Chief Justice’s suspension.

The GBA maintained that while the Constitution allows for presidential discretion under Article 146(10), it must be guided by clear regulations to ensure lawful and fair application.

 

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