The Minority in Parliament has warned that there is no constitutional basis for the Chief of Staff to appoint representatives of the President in Ministries of State.
The side condemned what it describes as unauthorized and misleading actions by ministers-designate, particularly stressing a recent incident involving the Minister-designate for Health, Dr. Okoe Boye.
According to the Minority, Dr. Boye’s recent inspection tour of health facilities was an overreach of authority, as his official appointment has not yet been confirmed.
Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, the Ranking Member on the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health and MP for Juaboso, in a statement, expressed his dismay over the actions that occurred under a supposed directive from the Chief of Staff.
“We were shocked to witness the Minister-designate acting as though his appointment was confirmed. This is a clear misrepresentation authorized by a dubious letter from the Chief of Staff,” Akandoh stated.
The Ranking pointed out that the role of a Minister is inherently to act as the President’s representative, and therefore, assigning such duties to an unconfirmed minister-designate is beyond the powers granted by the constitution.
“It is ultra vires for the Chief of Staff to ascribe the primary function of a Minister to a person not so appointed,” Akandoh added.
He emphasized that according to Article 78(1) of the 1992 constitution, the appointment of Ministers of State must be approved by Parliament before they assume office.
The Minority called for the immediate revocation of all appointments that falsely install minister-designates as Representatives of the President. They advise all public sector workers to refrain from extending any ministerial privileges to such individuals.
The current legitimate representative of the President to the Ministry of Health is Hon Ursula Owusu Ekuful, Minister for Communications and Digitalization, who is acting as a caretaker Minister for the Ministry of Health.
The Minority insists that the President’s nominees should not hold any authority to direct or implement policy changes within government institutions until their appointments are formally approved.
“This situation undermines the integrity of our governance and misleads the public. We urge the Chief of Staff to correct this with immediate effect,” Akandoh stated.
