INTRO
News in respect of the supposed impeachment
of the President of the Students’ Representative Council had gone viral on the
social media over the weekend. Alarmed at what had been done at the previous
sitting of the students’ legislative arm, the chief Justice and other members
of the Executive councils who were left out of the hook at this preposterous
development were inundated with calls by a section of both student membership
and some Lecturers.
Student had been sharply divided
following this development. Whiles some were obviously opposed to the
impeachment of the president in what they believed as being sentimental
attempts by some section of congress members to smudge the President’s hard won
reputation, others were uncompromising in their quest to oust a President to
whom a litany of unsubstantiated allegations had been leveled against. For the
latter, not even attempts at resolving the matter at management level could
change their stands on the President’s fate. Some of these students went as far
as declaring as Vacant the position of the President, vowing to stifle the
activities of the council should the President clings unto power.
Tension was at fever pitch in the
following weeks as verbal confrontations, accusations and counter debates
became the order of the day. It was in the midst of this dilemma and brouhaha
that the Chief Justice, Samuel Osarfo Boateng, was petition to determine, among
other things, the propriety or otherwise of the action that had been carried on
by 19 congress men on Friday,December13,2013.
This piece which equally went viral on
the social media went a long to quenching the embers of controversy that had
been lighted by this development while prompting student leadership to follow
due process. Below is the write up:
CHIEF
JUSTICE’S RESPONDS TO A NOTIFICATION TO SWEAR IN THE VICE PRESIDENT AS THE
SUBSTANTIVE PRESIDENT FOLLOWING A SUPPOSED IMPEACHMENT OF THE COUNCIL’S
PRESIDENT
I have been asked to take a very easy but
dicey decision ever. As a chief justice I cannot but take absolute recourse to
the constitution, whose article has been invoked to ground the occasion.
I have been notified to swear in the
vice president as a President of the council. While I do not operate at
Congress, I still think that some clarity needs to established, especially
where anything untoward can adversely affect the reputation of the judicial
council and the entire student leadership as a whole.
When the notice was served on me, I
couldn’t but, attempt to abreast myself with that section of the constitution
that legitimizes my exclusively reserved duty of swearing in the vice as the
substantive president.
After reading Chapter 4 ,Article 8
clause 4 (e) :‘‘When the president dies, resigns or removed from office ,the
Vice President shall assume office as president for the unexpired term of the
office of the president with effect of the date of the death, resignation or
removal from office’’.
These questions became nagging:
·
First, is
the president dead?
·
Second,
has the president resigned?
·
Lastly,
has the president been removed?
Of these three questions, the third one
stood out. Yes, the question of whether or not the president has been removed.
This particular question appeared critical to the extent that the president is
not dead and has not officially resigned.
It therefore left me with the duty of
establishing whether or not the president has legally been removed: the only
basis for which I could confidently perform this function.
When confronted with the duty of
establishing whether or not the president has been removed, I could not but
again take recourse to the same constitution which mandates me to do exactly
what I have been called, to do.
In my quest to establishing this, I
chanced on Chapter six : Article 16 which clearly spells out the procedure for
removal of office. I therefore quote, with your indulgence, clauses in that
article:
1.
For the
purpose of removal from office an Executive officer, a notice in writing, shall
be given to the Chief Justice who shall notify all members of the council.
2.
The
notice referred to in this clause above shall be accompanied statement setting
out in detail, the facts, supported by the necessary documents on which the
removal is sought.
3.
The
judicial council shall within one week add its independent opinion to the facts
as to its merits or otherwise.
4.
The
speaker of congress shall convey a congress meeting within one week after submission of the judicial council’s
independent report
5.
Impeachment
proceedings shall commence where applicable.’’
After studious perusal of these
clauses, one thing that became clear to me was that, though my office is
supposed to be the first point of call in the process of removal from office, I
had not been served in writing with any notification, detailing the facts for
the president’s removal as spelt out in clauses 1& 2 of Article 16.
It therefore follows that swearing in
another person will not only amount to a miscarriage of justice but most
importantly go to suggest the level of disrespect that I have for the office
that I honorably occupy.
Again, joining in the commemoration of
another person as president, when all the constitutional avenues for such an
action have not been fully exploited will drag into the mud the reputation of
honorable congress men and women while setting an unenviable precedence that
defeats the spirit behind chapter six of this constitution.
Finally, consummating what honorable
congress men and women had started by swearing in the vice as president today,
will mean that the chief Justice has no respect for due diligence. This I think
is highly inimical to the dispersion of Justice.
It is for these reasons and many other
implication that today’s action will have, not only on subsequent presidents,
but their executives and other officials
of the council that I am unable, by principle and integrity to swear the vice
in as president.
I therefore declare that the supposed
impeachment of the council’s President on December, 12, 2013 at congress, is
illegal and egregious abuse of constitutional power by honorable congress men
and women.
Honorable members are, however,
encouraged to follow diligently the procedure for removal and subsequent
impeachment, as clearly spelt out in article 16 and 17 respectively.
I am most grateful for indulging me.
SIGNED:
SAMUEL OSARFO BOATENG
CHIEF JUSTICE, AUCC.
COMMENTARY
This was not perfect. At least, determining
the suavity or otherwise of my judgment is not responsibility for me to discharge.
Indeed, many of my colleagues most of whom were hell bent on seeing the back of
the SRC President at the time were not very happy about my verdict. Even though
most of them had not read the verdict afford them a fair assessment of the thoughts
that went to the decision, they were unrestrained and uncharitable in their
criticis.
As a student Leader, a lot of people had
so much confidence in me. The fact that many will wait for my Two Week
Pre-Exams Classes to prepare for their end of semester Papers evinces the degree
of trust most of my colleagues had in my judgment and integrity.
Nonetheless, in the political space,
the very people who had shown so much confidence in my judgment were the very
people who were uncharitably criticizing my verdict.
Meanwhile, many others also agreed
perfectly with this verdict. In fact, one of my Lectures on reading the article
commented:’’ Sammy, this is perfect’’. Personally, I was impressed with the
fact that I did what my conscience and my sense of judgment dictated.
In all the unfolding scenes of events, I
learnt a great lesson. The hypocrisy of people and the extent to which they
will go to see their ambitions manifest became so glaring to me. It was indeed,
a perfect training ground for me as I was rounding up my first degree Programme
to enter the world of work.
For the many lessons that I learnt I think
the bulleted below are INSTRUCTIVE:
- · You can’t please all the People all the Time.
- · Any Attempt at pleasing all is equally an attempt at Suicide.
- · It is better one does what is valid and suave by their own judgment and conscience.
- · Never take decisions that end up pitting your character against your reputation.
- · Nobility and Integrity will never loss their relevance, however, corrupt the world will be.
- · You cannot fight the battles alone: I haven’t seen a land so volatile and corruption-prone as the isolated land.
- · It good to read but it better to study, even best when you learn.
Samuel Osarfo Boateng.
PR/Communication Analyst
0541842198.
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