Ranking member on Parliament’s select committee on Foreign Affairs Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has chided President Akufo-Addo for announcing that Ghana’s mutual visa waiver agreement with Jamaica will come into effect from July 1.
According to the North Tongu MP the announcement by the President is slap in the face of Parliament and the judiciary.
President Akufo-Addo on a recent visit to Jamaica entered into a mutual VISA waiver agreement with his Jamaican counterpart that will allow Jamaicans to visit Ghana without requiring a VISA and vice versa.
President Akufo-Addo subsequently announced that the arrangement will take effect from July 1, 2019.
The Ranking member on Ghana Parliament’s Foreign Affairs committee however says the President has no authority to announce the effective date of the arrangement without the necessary parliamentary approval.
“It is therefore most inappropriate, unconstitutional and indeed undermining of Parliament and the Judiciary for that matter, for our President to speak on the international stage in ways that suggest he is either usurping the authority of Parliament or that the Ghanaian Parliament is a mere rubber stamp ready to do his bidding by ratifying whatever agreement is presented to the House, that is, if even the President intends to comply with Article 75 (2) in the first place,” he stated.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa says his conviction stems from the decision of the Supreme Court on the GITMO 2 case.
The Supreme Court in the GITMO 2 case held that all international agreements must be subjected to parliamentary ratification.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa in write-up on his Facebook page said unless the agreement with Jamaica is ratified by parliament, it cannot come into effect and wondered why President Akufo-Addo decided to usurp the authority by making such an announcement without recourse to parliament
“I would not have taken issue with the President if he had said expressly that the Mutual Visa Waiver Agreement will come into effect subject to Parliamentary ratification and if he had refrained from timelines since Parliament is NOT and CANNOT be an extension of his office. With all due respect, such conduct affronts constitutionalism and fails to market the beauty of Ghanaian democracy in the global arena.”
“Perhaps, it is worth reminding His Excellency President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo that similar Mutual Waiver of Visa Agreements for Diplomatic and Service Passport holders with the Republics of Colombia, Hungary, India and Chile signed several months ago – some under His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, are still going through the motions in Parliament as page 11 of the Agenda for the Second Meeting of Parliament Commencing Tuesday, 28th May, 2019 reveals,” he stated.
Story: Sena Nombo/Radiogoldlive.com
