The Minority Caucus in Parliament has condemned what it calls a blatant breach of the 1992 Constitution, following the simultaneous absence of the President, Vice President, and Speaker of Parliament from the country without the swearing-in of an Acting President.
In a statement released on Monday, May 12, 2025, the Minority revealed that all three high-ranking officials were out of the country at the same time, a scenario they argue violates Article 60 of the Constitution.
This article mandates that when both the President and Vice President are absent, the Speaker must be sworn in as Acting President.
At the time of the statement, President John Dramani Mahama was in Togo attending the African Union Debt Conference, while Vice President Jane Naana Opoku-Agyeman was receiving medical treatment in the UK.
The caucus also highlighted that Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, who is supposed to step in during their absence, is also out of the country.
According to the Constitution, in the absence of all three, the Chief Justice is to act as President. However, the acting Chief Justice, Gertrude Torkonoo, has been suspended.
The Minority described the actions of the Presidency as “deliberate and calculated,” accusing the administration of treating the Constitution as an “inconvenience rather than a binding framework.”
The statement, signed by the Minority’s legal counsel, John Darko, warned that such constitutional violations could undermine Ghana’s democratic foundations. It also pledged to hold the President and his advisors accountable.
“We will hold the President and his Vice accountable to their oath of office, which demands adherence to the Constitution. Where necessary, we will invoke the relevant provisions of law to ensure constitutional breaches are not left unpunished,” it concluded.
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