Presidents-elect will no longer be sworn-in at Independence Square – Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu

The Independence Square will no longer serve as the venue for the swearing-in of newly elected Presidents, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs has said.

It is enshrined in the constitution that all newly-elected presidents should be sworn in in parliament but bar President Kufour’s first term, the swearing ceremonies have been held at Independence Square.

But speaking at the commissioning of the new Job 600 Annex, the Majority Leader said that the practice of swearing presidents at the Independence Square will cease.

“The House has decided that the President-elect must follow the rules, subject to security considerations, be sworn-in in the presence of parliament, before parliament and in parliament. The parliament of Ghana is proposing that the swearing-in of the president-elect should be done in the present precincts of parliament as it happened during the first inauguration of President Agyekum Kufuor.”

Article 57(3) of the 1992 Constitution states that “Before assuming office the President shall take and subscribe before Parliament the oath of allegiance and the presidential oath set out in the Second Schedule to this Constitution.”

There have been various interpretations of this article with some people arguing that the president-elect can be sworn in anywhere as long as Parliament is convened there.

The practice has been that a night before the day of the swearing-in of the President, Parliament convenes to dissolve the old parliament and usher in the new one.

After this is done, they proceed to Independence Square to convene a meeting there to oversee the swearing-in ceremony of the new president.