REINSTATE NINE SUSPENDED BORTIANOR NGLESHIE NPP EXECUTIVES.–LAWYER VIDA ACHEAMPONG ADVISES
A Legal Practitioner, Mrs Vida Agyekum Acheampong, has described the decision by the Bortianor Ngleshie Amanfro Constituency Executive Committee (CEC) to suspend nine polling station executives and electoral area coordinator, as unconstitutional therefore requesting for their reinstatement.
According to her, the accused persons ought to have been notified in writing and had appeared before the constituency’s Disciplinary Committee, before such executives may be suspended which goes with the legal maxim, ‘innocent until proven guilty’ and not vice versa.
The decision, she said, breaches Article 3 clause 7 of the party constitution, which states that a member may be suspended from membership of the party, or holding any office in the Party, pending an enquiry into his or her conduct by a Disciplinary Committee.
Speaking to a section of the media in Accra, Lawyer Vida Acheampong, disclosed that the decision to suspend such executives of the party in the constituency, is also contrary to the provisions enshrined at Articles 19 (2) and 23 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, which deals with administrative justice and fairness.
According to her, the Executive Committee ought to have read and jointly interpreted both Article 3(7)(1) and (2) to ensure justice, and fairness in its disciplinary procedure therefore such selective justice, according to her, arbitrarily serves as punishment to members who do not side with the incumbent executives.
The legal practitioner disclosed that the executives, including, Rexford Agyei, the Aplaku Electoral Area Coordinator and two others, Felix Amoah Boafor and Emmanuel Aplaku Mensah were unjustly suspended on 15th December 2022 based on misinterpretation and misapplication of provisions in the party’s Constitution.
According to her, procedurally no person can be suspended from the party without being notified in writing his wrongdoing and subsequent appearance before a disciplinary committee as enshrined in the party’s constitution hence describing the decision as administrative impropriety.
Lawyer Vida Acheampong therefore called on the executive committee to rescind its decision and subsequently reinstate them to pave way for the Constituency’s Disciplinary Committee (DC) to investigate into the matter and recommend appropriate sanctions as enshrined in the party’s constitution when found guilty to ensure peace in the constituency.
