Bill on appointment of Veep's appointment laid

Accra, Oct. 19, GNA - A bill to provide for the appointment of the Vice-President in cases where the constitution is silent was laid on Tuesday when Parliament reconvened after a three-month break. Three other bills were also laid.

They were the Constitutional Amendment Bill, Fines (Penalty Units) Bill, and Private Health Care Practice Licensing Bill. A memorandum accompanying the Vice-President Succession Bill said the constitution is silent on the issue of the appointment to the office of the vice- president where he dies, resigns or is removed from office.

The constitution does not also stipulate what should happen when the vice-president joins a party in opposition to that of the president. The bill, therefore, seeks to fill the loopholes using the residual powers of Parliament in article 298 of the constitution.

Under that article, Parliament is mandated to provide for matters to be dealt with where there is no provision - express or by necessary implication - in the constitution to deal with the matter.

The bill permits the president to designate a successor where the vice-president dies, resigns or is removed from office. The qualifications of the person are to be the same as that of the president and the person is approved by parliament.

The bill further states that the vice-president is deemed to have resigned if he joins a party in opposition to the president. He is also deemed to have resigned if he conducts himself in a way to bring him in conflict with the president.

The purpose of the fines (Penalty Units) Bill is to put in place a method by which fines provided in the legislation can be dealt with in a manner that avoids stating the actual amounts in currency in the legislation.

The concept is that instead of stating actual currency amounts in enactment's, fines should be stated as consisting of a penalty unit or a number of penalty units.

The memo accompanying the bill states that one unit in the bill is equal to 20,000 cedis and may be amended from time to time. This has the advantage of eliminating constant amendment of specific sums of money stated in an enactment as fines that often arise from fluctuation in currency value.

The purpose of the Private Health Care Bill is to establish a Board to license premises for the provision of private health care services, supervise and monitor activities of these practices and generally oversee their operation.

Under it, all private hospitals, clinics, maternity homes and all other medical services and health services as may be determined by the Minister would be brought under one board which will license these practices.

"Bringing these practices under one regulatory body is advantageous because it will cut down costs, facilitate administration, the monitoring of the practices ...and improve the quality of health care in the country,", a memo accompanying the bill said.