Member of Parliament for Asante Akim North, Kwame Andy Appiah-Kubi has said it is not enough to observe that the fusion of the Attorney-General’s Department into the Ministry of Justice is problematic and just leave it there.
He says this is a constitutional defect that must be dealt with through constitutional process.
“It is a constitutional defect, and so we need to treat it through a constitutional process. It is not enough to sit somewhere and say [it is problematic],” he said on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday, December 16 while commenting on a call by the Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin to separate the Attorney-General’s Department from the Ministry of Justice.
For his part, Private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu said that he supports the call by the Speaker.
Citing the practice in England where they have the Attorney-General’s department separated from the Justice Ministry, Kpebu said this call to Ghana to do the same has been an age-old constitutional debate.
Speaker Bagbin in making the call to separate the A-G from the Ministry of Justice also described as an action in futility, the passing of the OSP Act 2017 (Act 959), arguing that the authority is embedded in the powers of the Attorney-General constitutionally.
“As for the law you passed on the establishment of the Special Prosecutor, I did tell you that it was an act in futility. You were not going to achieve anything from that but you went ahead to pass it. I disagreed with you but I was alone,” the Speaker said in Parliament on Tuesday.
He added “Because I was very clear that, that authority is embedded in the powers of the Attorney-General constitutionally.”
Speaking on this matter on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday December 16, Mr Kpebu said “The Speaker wants the A-G to be decoupled from the Ministry of Justice, this has been an old constitutional debate.
“In England they have the A-G separated from the Justice Ministry, which I support. But I don’t support the comment that the OSP is an act in futility.
“This is not an act in futility, the OSP is a work in progress. Corruption is a difficult thing to fight.”
By Laud Nartey
