"Appointing People In Acting Capacities Not Best Practice For Ghana" – Emile Short

By Laud Nartey
Justice Emile Short, Acting Chairman for the Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA) Winner Takes All (WTA) Advisory Committee has indicated that the dispensation where people are appointed in acting capacities for long time before they are either confirmed or sacked is the best practice for Ghana. 
He said such appointees should be confirmed quickly so as to give them more certainty to steer affairs of their institutions or organizations otherwise they should be changed quickly. This will see to the improvement of the organization they are heading.  

Justice Emile Short was speaking in an exclusive interview with this reporter after the IEA-WTA encounter with the press in Accra last Tuesday. The press encounter on the theme “Re-thinking Ghana’s winner-takes-all governance Practice”. He said also in a statement presented that appointment of heads of key constitutional bodies and the President with the approval of two-thirds majority of Parliament should make governance institutions. The constitutional bodies in discussions here are the Electoral Commission (EC), Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Chief Justice, Supreme Court Judges, Governor of Bank of Ghana, National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) and the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) as well as the Auditor General. In addition the IEA-WTA committee wants these institutions be independently funded with funds from telecom tax, consolidated fund, national lottery and additional 1% VAT.

The former commissioner for CHRAJ added also that alternatively, a duly constitutional independent and bi-partisan committee should advertise the vacant position, vet the applicants, draw up a short list and submit same to the President for appointment. He further stated that the current practice of appointing ministers from Parliament weakens the institutions. This is because Members of Parliament (MPs) who are ministers of state cannot afford to scrutinize and criticize government policies with the fear that they would lose their jobs. For this reason the constitutional provision for appointing majority of ministers from Parliament should be amended. No MP should hold a second position as Minister of State and in the event that the President appoints an MP as Minister, the said MP must vacate the seat and a bye-election held to fill the positions.

Mrs Jean Mensa, Executive Director for the IEA, stated that the Winner-Takes-All system of governance has been in place since the beginning of the Fourth Republic but with some noted issues among which are the powers of the Presidency; district level governance; responsibilities of the Legislature; interests of Political Parties; and weak Public Institutions.

She added that as part of the effort to consolidate Ghana’s constitutional democracy, the IEA established an 11-member Advisory Committee of Experts to re-examine Ghana’s Winner-Takes-All system to oversee the conduct of a nation-wide public consultation process on this issue and propose recommendations for reforms.