The Council of State, Counsellors or Sycophants?
Abdul Salam Sule, Ghanadot
Accra, March 21, Ghanadot - The 1992 constitution of
Ghana provides that the President constitute a council
of state to offer constructive advice to the Presidency. It therefore came as no
surprise when the President, John Evans Attah Mills,
reconstituted members of council of state on Tuesday, March 17, 2009.
The constitution provides that, the president appoints
11 of the members of the Council of
State, 10 members are selected by competitive elections to represent
their various regions and the remaining three are appointed by the President in
consultation with Parliament and President of the National House of Chiefs.
The spirit behind the
aspect of voting into the Council of
State is to avoid situation where all members of the
Council of State come from
the same political party.
Unfortunately, that has not been the case since the inauguration of Council of
State in the 4th Republic in 1993. Studies have shown that all other
Council of State inaugurated from the year 1993 to
2005 have been pandering to the whims of the sitting President or the ruling
party.
Although some by their records are not necessarily members of the ruling party,
most of them see their appointment or selection into the council as
a favour and therefore would not do anything to hurt
the sensibilities of the person (President) who
conferred on them the respect of membership to the august body.
In the immediate past NPP administration, members of the Council of State came
under intense criticism for lacking the courage to advice the President on some
unpopular decisions. What really affected the performance of the previous
Council of State members was
their political affiliation. Most of them were picked from the ruling party and
therefore found it difficult to deal with certain unpopular decisions of the
President.
The question on the lips of many Ghanaians therefore is, what will be the
difference between the immediate past council of state members and the newly
formed one?
On Tuesday March 17, 2009, the President, Prof John Evans Atta Mills admonished
the reconstituted Council of State to be critical of his administration.
The President who was administering oaths to 24 new members of the Council of
State pleaded with the eminent Ghanaians to be critical, impartial and objective
to his administration not sycophantic.
The President further reminded the members of their important constitutional
responsibilities, besides advising his administration and urged them to use
those responsibilities for the benefit of the people.
Many Ghanaians have envisaged the advice by the President as timely and hope the
eminent Ghanaians would abide by the order set by the
president and their own constitutional mandate to offer constructive
advice for the benefit of the country but not to be in bed with the government
as has been the case since 1992.
Ghanadot
