"Errand" comment not to spite Council of State - Bagbin

Majority Leader in Parliament Alban Bagbin has said his comment which suggested that Council of State members are “errand boys” for the President was not meant to spite the Presidential advisory body.

According to him, the intention was to get the nation rethink the position of the Council and find better ways to enhance their impact on the governance of the state.

“I didn’t mean to lower the esteem of the Council. The intention was to get people have other options to look at the issue” the Nadowli Kaleo MP told Radio XYZ, Thursday.

He added: “I acknowledge the Council of State and their roles but the Constitution as it stands now makes it easy for the president to send them to things for him."

The leader of the law-making chamber appears to have sparked controversy with his comments that the Council members are not well positioned to assert their authority over their President.

“I don’t support the current Council of State as presently structured and constituted, because its just an appendage of the executive arm, you will see often the members of the council of state acting as representative of the president at various functions,” he lamented.