Ghana

Acting ministers brouhaha: Harruna Iddrisu erred - Martin Kpebu

Tuesday, January 12, 2021 at 4:20 PM by Mohammed Awal

- Private legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu, has countered Harruna Iddrisu’s assertion that President Akufo-Addo erred in appointing caretaker ministers

- According to Kpebu the president was right in his directive

- But the former minority leader and leader of the NDC Caucus disagreed

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President Nana Akufo-Addo has asked some former ministers in his first administration to man their respective ministries until his upcoming ministerial appointments are approved by Parliament.

The president’s directive did not go down well with the Member of Parliament for Tamale South, Haruna Iddrisu.

Acting ministers brouhaha: Harruna Iddrisu erred - Martin Kpebu Martin Kpebu|Haruna Iddrisu and modified by author
Source: Facebook

In his view, the order was illegal and that there is nothing like “acting” or “holding” minister citing the ruling in the J.A Mensah versus Attorney General case in 1997.

The former minority leader insisted that Akufo-Addo got it woefully wrong.

Iddrisu’s submissions caught the attention of private legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu, who shared a divergent view on the development.

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According to him, the president’s action cannot be illegal.

Citing the same case, Iddrisu relied on for his submission; Kpebu said the Supreme Court held, in that case, the president has the right to appoint some people to act as ministers until the approval of his nominees by Parliament

Meanwhile, the NDC said it will not acknowledge Nana Akufo-Addo as Ghana’s president.

The flagbearer of the NDC in the 2020 polls, John Dramani Mahama, rejected the outcome of the elections as declared by the chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Jean Mensa.

He filed a petition at the Supreme Court to in his words remove doubts in the minds of Ghanaians over the credibility of the electoral process.

Akufo-Addo collected 51.302% of the votes to defeat Mahama, who polled 43.359%.

The votes difference between the two candidates stood at 517, 231, representing a four percentage point, one of the highest since 1996.