President of the Chamber of Local Government, Dr Richard Fiadomor has said it was illegal for President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to ask Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) to act until substantive ones are nominated for confirmation by the assembly members.
He told Johnnie Hughes on the Community Connect on 3FM Friday August 20 that the law does not permit persons to act as MMDCEs.
Dr Fiadomor announced that his organization will seek an interpretation of the Act in the Supreme Court as to whether or not the MMDCEs can serve in an acting capacity.
President Nana Akufo-Addo in a January directive signed by the Chief of Staff Akosua Frema Opare urged the MMDCEs to remain at post but warned them against taking any policy-related decisions.
“You are to take note of the provision of section 14 (5) of the Presidential (Transition) Act (2012) which states that you shall not take a decision involving a policy issue,” the notice said.
Subsequently, the Greater Accra Regional Co-ordinating Council debunked claims that MMDCEs had been directed to leave office and hand over affairs to their Co-ordinating Directors.
A statement from the Co-ordinating Council said “The attention of the Regional Co-ordinating Council has been drawn to a message circulating on social media that “All MMDCEs are to hand over to their respective Co-ordinating Directors by close by Thursday 20th May 2021.”
“I have the directive of the Hon. Regional Minister to inform all MMDCEs in Greater Accra to disregard this message and continue to remain at post as per the presidential directive reference SCR/DA 39/314/01 on 11th January 2021,” the statement further said.
Dr Fiadomor told Johnnie Hughes that “To ask MMDCEs to act is an illegality. There is nowhere in the constitution or in the Act that allows for somebody to be a Chief Executive in an acting role.
“You must be confirmed by the assembly members so if the assembly members have not confirmed you you cannot act and that is why if today, I am nominated to be the MCE for Tema, I cannot go to the Assembly to do any business there because I need to wait for the assembly members to confirm me.
“So that in itself is illegality, we are putting things together to go the Supreme Court for interpretation so that in future a government comes to power or government succeeds itself it does not ask MMDCEs to act.”
-By Laud Nartey|3news|Ghana
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