Voting For Regional Representatives Of The Council Of State Gets Underway In All The Regions
Sixteen regional representatives are being elected today, Friday, February 12 onto the Council of State for the next four years.
The elections are being conducted by the Electoral Commission, Ghana (EC) in accordance with Paragraph (C) of Clause 2 of Article 89 of the 1992 Constitution.
According to the Constitution, the Council of State is to, among other things counsel the President in the performance of his functions.
It may also, upon request or on its own initiative, consider and make recommendations on any matter being considered or dealt with by the President, a Minister of State, Parliament or any other authority.
Nomination forms were received from qualified persons between Monday, February 1, and Thursday, February 4.
Meanwhile, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has already named 11 persons including Nana Otuo Siriboe, the immediate past Chairman of the Council, between 2017 and 2021 to form part of the composition of the Council of State he wants to serve on the Council for his second term according to Article 89(2) of the 1992 Constitution.
Among these persons are the immediate past chairman, Nana Otuo Siriboe II, the Juabenhene, and some of the members he worked with between 2017 and 2021.
The rest of the President’s full list Council of State Members comprises:
2. Archbishop Justice Ofei Akrofi, Former Anglican Archbishop of the Province of West Africa
3. Mr Sam Okudzeto, a private legal practitioner
4. Mr Stanley Blankson, a former mayor of Accra
5. Prof. Ato Essuman
6. Alhaji Aminu Amadu
7. Dr Margaret Amoakohene, a former member of the Council
8. Mrs Georgina Kusi
9. Mrs Alberta Cudjoe
10. Kuoro Richard Babini Kanton VI
11. Alhaji Sule Yiremiah
The President, subject to consultation with Parliament, has also appointed, in accordance with Article 89(2)(a)(i)(ii) and (iii), Georgina Theodora Wood, a former Chief Justice, Lt. Gen. J.B. Danquah, a former Chief of Defence Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces, and Nana Owusu Nsiah, a former Inspector General of Police, to the Council.
The President of the National House of Chiefs, Ogyeahohoo Yaw Gyebi II, will be an ex-officio member of the Council, in furtherance of Article 89(2)(b).
The composition of the Council will be completed with the election due to be held on 12 February 2021, of regional representatives in accordance with Article 89(2)(c).
Per Article 91(1) of the Constitution, “The Council is required to consider and advise the President or any other authority in respect of any appointment which is required by the Constitution or any other law to be made in accordance with the advice of, or in consultation with the Council of State.”
Already, notable names like ET Mensah, Alhassan Andani, and Ras Mubarak have filed to contest the elections in their respective regions.
By: Nana Dwomoh Forkuo