President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo
A while ago, I decided to examine Article 55(3) and 243(1) of our Constitution and realized that the former does not exclude the election of MMDCEs. MMDCEs are part of the Assembly or they are not? In Article 243(1), MMDCEs are appointed by the President to head the Assembly so they are part of it!
Article 55(3) states, “Subject to the provision of this article, a political party is free to participate in shaping the political will of the people, to disseminate information on political ideas, social and economic programmes of a national character, and sponsor candidates for elections to any public office other than to District Assemblies or lower local government units.”
Article 243(1) also states, “There shall be a District Chief Executive for every district who shall be appointed by the President with the prior approval of not less than two-thirds majority of members of the Assembly present and voting at the meeting.”
From the above, if article 55(3) is amended with a YES vote, and parliament amends 243(1), it means MMDCEs are going to be elected because they are part of the Assembly. Which means all members of the Assembly will be elected on party lines. Do not forget that, presently, though the MMDCEs are part of the Assembly, they are not elected by the people.
If there is a no vote, and 243(1) is amended, all members of the Assembly, including the MMDCEs will still be elected, but not on partisan basis. So where has the President deceived the public? In all these scenarios, all the Assembly members, including the MMDCEs will be elected.
The moment article 243(1) is amended by parliament, it means all members of the Assembly will be elected.
Thus, a YES vote on December 17, will lead to the election of our Assembly members, including MMDCEs on party lines! The President was right! Let’s VOTE YES!
God bless Ghana!
