Former Member of Parliament for Tempane, Joseph Kpemka Dindiok has said the Metropolitan Chief Executive of Sekondi-Takoradi, Abdul Mumin Issah who is court for various offences, can only be sacked if he is found guilty.
His comment comes after the Chamber for Local Governance (ChaLoG) has said President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo engaged in illegality by suspending Mr Abdul Mumin Issah.
President of ChaLoG, Dr. Richard Fiadomor explained the per the laws, Mr Akufo-Addo can only sack the MCE in a situation like this and not suspension.
“Inasmuch as we condemn in no uncertain terms the conduct or if you like, the misconduct of the MCE for Sekondi Takoradi, we also do not think that the President has the locus standi to suspend the MCE from office. When you look at Article 242(1) of Ghana’s Constitution, it is clear that the President is supposed to nominate an MMDCE and once that is done it is the assembly members, by two thirds majority present and voting that confirms the President’s nominee.
“Immediately that confirmation is done the only thing the president can do is to revoke or sack an MMDCE , nothing less, nothing more.
“The nominee or the MCE is now a member of the STMA General Assembly and it is only the General Assembly that can state and suspend the MMDCE because the MMDCE after he has been confirmed becomes bonafide member of the Assembly.
“There is nowhere and there is no law backing the action that has been taken by the President by suspending the Chief Executive. The best or worst the President can do is to sack him.
“If the President does not intend to sack him and he wants to allow the judicial process to conclude then the President should have just been quiet on the issue. It is an illegality the President has perpetuated by purportedly suspending the MMDCE.”
Abdul Mumin Issah was suspended from office with immediate effect.
This follows an altercation between the MCE and a policeman, in which the MCE was said to have assaulted the policeman after having engaged in dangerous driving. He was subsequently arrested and arraigned. However, he has been granted bail.
A letter signed by the Minister for Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, Daniel Botwe, said the move has become necessary for “an inquiry into his encounter with the police on February 3, 2022”.
The statement added, “without prejudice to the matter now before court, Government takes a very dim view of the comments made by the Metropolitan Chief Executive Officer during his exchanges with the police”.
“The comments by the Chief Executive Officer run contrary to the government’s belief and work to ensure that our security agencies and indeed Public Agencies are resourced, empowered and accorded the respect to deliver on their mandates”, the statement continued.
Reacting to this matter on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday Febraury 5, Mr Kpemka Dindiok who is also a former Deputy Attorney General said ” As we speak now we want justice that is why the President has asked the MCE to step aside. Outright dismissal comes in when he is found guilty in court.”
