Private Legal Practitioner, Esq. Martin Kpebu has indicated that the role of the Vice President needs more clarification. He stated that the portfolio of the Vice President is ‘part and parcel’ of the government’s administration and an institution that is worth keeping.
He stated that the 1992 Constitution of Ghana does not give a clear description of the role of the Vice President as it describes the Vice President’s role as one who acts in the absence of the President in one fold and another fold describes the Vice President as part of the cabinet.
“The Vice President is not just a driver’s mate. He is a spare President, he is an assistant President. Ohene Ntow is right…Somebody who has mischaracterized himself, it tells you that he didn’t even know what he is about. We say that a problem well diagnosed is half solved”.
Esq. Martin Kpebu
Esq. Martin Kpebu indicated that it is very distressing that the Vice President spent seven years in office confused about his obligations as the Vice President. He also added that Ghanaians need to be alarmed that their leaders do not know the composition of their portfolios.
Accordingly, he stated that the governance practice in Ghana has revealed that the Vice President is given charge of the country’s economy. He stressed that the constitution should be amended to clarify that the Vice President takes charge of the economy.
He specified that putting this in the Constitution would avoid the different interpretations of the role of the Vice President. He stressed that the amendment would also prevent the President from wielding too much political power. “The President doesn’t know everything…we can’t put everything into one man’s hand it leads to abuse of power” he stated.
Esq. Martin Kpebu also reasoned that if the public were to go by the Vice President’s account, then it would mean that the Vice President was given the mandate in his first term of office to perform his duties as the one in charge of the economy and that mandate was refused him in his second term in government.
He indicated that no country can develop properly if the President is allowed to oversee everything. He argued that the President is elected with the Vice President and other groups of people because it ensures that governance will be conducted with tact.
Vice President’s Advice To Be Binding
Furthermore, Esq. Martin Kpebu emphasized that if the Vice President’s claim is true and he was not given the mandate in his second tenure to be in charge of the country’s economy, it becomes imperative to amend the constitution to stipulate the role of Ghana’s Vice President.
He suggested that the amendment must have further provisions that make the Vice President’s advice, as the person in charge of the economy, binding.
“One thing has become very clear, we can’t continue to live so much in the hands of the President alone. When you get a bad leader like President Akufo-Addo, you see where we landed. So this is a cautionary tale that there may be bad leaders in the future so let’s do that [constitutional amendment]”.
Esq. Martin Kpebu
The remarks of Esq. Martin Kpebu follows the argument made by the former General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr. Nana Ohene Ntow who declared Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s ‘driver’s mate’ comment as insulting to Ghanaians and the Constitution of Ghana.
Moreover, the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has been under constant attack for his ‘driver’s mate’ comment he made at the launch of his Presidential bid at the University of Professional Studies Accra (UPSA) which sought to absolve him from the bad administration of the incumbent government.
Surprisingly but not so farfetched, some ardent members of the NPP jumped to the defense of the Vice President regarding this comment. While some argued his (the Vice President’s) role is advisory, others interpreted his statement as an acceptance of the wrongs of the incumbent government and a suggestion for a better plan for the country’s development.
To conclude, while it has been weeks since the Vice President made this remark, Ghanaians have not completely dealt with it yet. Perhaps Ghanaians will never be done with it until after the 2024 General Elections in December.
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