Commissioner Short's neutrality questioned

Accra (Greater Accra) 12 May ?99

Mr Justice Emile Short?s recent comments regarding the ban on drumming, might rather worsen the situation, a concerned citizen has said.

Mr Walterman Oko Lamptey, a staff of National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) said the declaration by the Commissioner for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), in his official capacity that customary ban on drumming within the Ga State is unconstitutional, amounts to "a gross abuse of office."

"The CHRAJ exists to promote the rights of all Ghanaians. Mr Short must, therefore, be balanced in his views and speak for cultural equality," Mr Lamptey said in a statement in Accra on Tuesday.

Commissioner Short in a press briefing last Friday said the ban imposed by the Ga Traditional Council on drumming is unconstitutional and violates the rights to freedom of worship and expression as guaranteed by the Constitution.

Mr Lamptey said as a lawyer, Mr Short should know that no country or society is governed by constitution alone.

"Every country has got its customs and traditions and these form the basis of the legal and constitutional framework", he said, adding that customary laws, which are part of Ghana's legal statutes were derived from traditions and culture.

Mr Lamptey said he wonders if the job of Commissioner Short includes the interpretation of the Constitution, a responsibility, he said, falls on the Supreme Court.

He further questioned the non-partisanship of the CHRAJ and questioned why it did not say anything when burials, drumming and dancing were all banned recently in Ashanti Region and elsewhere?

"Mr Short is guilty of discriminating and showing contempt on the tradition and culture of the Ga ethnic group", he said and asked if he was doing so because he is a member of one of those churches fighting the Ga Traditional Council over the ban.

Mr Lamptey made reference to a radio programme during which, he said, a contributor made "unsavoury remarks" about the Gas and said as the champion of human rights, why has Mr Short refused to condemn this violation of the principle of ethnic and cultural equality?

Meanwhile Mr Daniel Yaw Abaidoo, Director of Administration of Scriptures Union, Ghana, and legal consultant for a workshop on "Nuisance of Noise", organised by the Environmental Protection Agency said existing legislation provides a legal basis for legitimate action by metropolitan and district assemblies against excessive noise makers.

Mr Abaidoo said the EPA, by Act 490, 1994, is empowered "to issue notice in the form of directives, procedures or warnings to such noise makers as it may determine for the purpose of controlling the volume, intensity and quality of noise in the environment".

Touching on, "The Legal Basis for Noise level Measurement, Compliance and Enforcement", he referred to the Legislative Instrument (L I. 1615), which established the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, and relevant bye-laws, saying they give the AMA the mandate to deal with noise nuisance.

The by laws, among other things, prohibit the playing of music when conducting a religious service so loudly as to cause nuisance to the public and residents in the area.

It is also provided under these bye- laws, that music played or an address made, through a public address system in any church shall be such that it should be heard only within the confines of the church.