Mahama accused of breaching Presidential Office Act

President John Mahama has been accused of not complying with the Presidential Office Act (Act 463), mandating him to submit to Parliament, a list of presidential staffers.

According to Patrick Yaw Boamah, Member of Parliament for Okaikoi Central, President Mahama’s continuous breach of the Act is worrying.

Section 11 of Act 463 was passed in 1993, states:

“The President shall within 3 months after the end of each financial year submit to Parliament an annual report containing the following information—(a) the number of presidential staff employed at the Office; (b) the rank or grade of such staff; and (c) employees in the other public services assigned to the Office”.

But speaking to JOYNEWS Parliamentary correspondent Elton Brobbey, Mr. Boamah disclosed plans to raise the issue on the floor of Parliament and demand the Speaker, Edward Doe Adjaho, to haul the Chief of Staff before the House.

The NPP MP described the refusal of the Office of the President to comply with the Presidential Office Act as blatant disrespect to the constitutional provision.

“We want to know…the number of persons working in his office [the Presidency]; their grades and ranks and why he has not filed annual reports within the first three months” of the year as the Act requires of him.

The MP’s call has received backing from anti-corruption campaigner, Vitus Azeem, who stressed that: “people need to know who are there [Office of the President] and what roles they play”.

“We need to know the extent of money spent on people parading themselves as presidential staffers,” the Executive Director of Ghana Integrity Initiative stated.

He also stressed on the need for those in charge of enforcing the codes, to ensure the standards are maintained to check those in authority.