It has emerged that it was on the advice of the Chief Justice, Mrs. Georgina Wood, that the ready-to-be-sworn-in Acting President, Edward Doe Adjaho recoiled from taking the presidential oath.

But for the advice of the Chief Justice, the Speaker of Parliament Doe Adjaho was “prepared this morning, dressed and ready to be sworn-in”, Majority Chief Whip Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak revealed.

The Speaker “never refused” to swear the presidential oath, he told Evans Mensah on Joy FM’s Top Story Tuesday. The Chief Justice was also never in the chamber of the house in the first place, he added.

The decision not to swear in the Speaker was taken at the Speaker’s lobby in a conversation involving the Chief Justice, the Speaker of Parliament, Majority Leader Alban Bagbin, O.B. Amoah and other prominent lawyers.

The Chief Justice, Mrs. Gerogina Wood was able to “convince” those gathered “beyond reasonable doubt” that a second swearing in was not necessary.

“She [Chief Justice] argued and it made sense,” Alhaji Muntaka emphasised.

There are a barrage of reactions that have greeted the controversial decision by the Speaker of Parliament to act as president in the absence of Mr. Mahama and his vice, Kwesi Amissah-Arthur without taking the Presidential oath.

President Mahama has travelled to Burkina Faso to mediate in the ongoing power struggle in that country. His Vice, Amisah-Arthur is currently in India.

Article 60 (12) of the 1992 Constitution demands that before the speaker acts in the absence of the President and the Vice, he shall take the Presidential oath of office.

NOT NECESSARY TO SUBSCRIBE

But the Speaker, Edward Doe Adjaho announced to Parliament that he has assumed the office of President without taking the oath and giving his reasons for not doing so.

“Honourable members, Leadership in consultation with the Chief Justice and the chief legislative officer at the Attorney General’s Department this morning in my lobby after careful reading of the relevant provisions and the oath I took on the 19^th September 2013, I arrived at the conclusion that it would not be necessary to subscribe to another presidential oath.”

INTERPRETATION OF THE LAW

But some Minority MPs have strongly contested the position taken by the Speaker.

For instance, O.B. Amoah, Member of Parliament for Akwapim South, who was in the lobby when the decision was taken is of the conviction that the moment the president returned to Ghana, the oath sworn by the Speaker elapsed.

“And I thought that to be on a safer side, the Speaker should just have been sworn in again so that at least it would be on record that there is no vacuum, there is no lacuna.”

He hinted that they may have to go to the Supreme Court for interpretation.

EMPOWERED WITH POWERS

But Alhaji Muntaka Mubarak defended the Speaker’s action, arguing that since the Chief Justice; who is “empowered with the powers to interpret the law,” has proffered advice, it should be taken.

He further explained that whenever the President or the Vice takes the oath it lasts for a particular regime, and an oath taken by someone in an acting position should also be treated as such.

For instance, the vice president is not made to swear in again anytime the president travels outside, he contended.

He therefore challenged persons who disapprove of the action to go to court to test the law.

TREASON

But lawyer Kwame Akuffo has raised serious doubts about claims that the Chief Justice advised against the swearing in.

Article 129 which talks about the judiciary does not give the Chief Justice the power to give advice, he added.

Relying on Article 3 Clause 3, Mr. Akuffo said for claiming that he has assumed the position of a president, without taking the presidential oath, the Speaker could be held for “treasonable” offence.

He therefore challenged persons at the meeting to produce the minutes for verification, if indeed the Chief Justice gave that advice.

NO PRESIDENT

Senior Law lecturer at the University of Ghana law faculty, Dr. Adusei Poku also said the Speaker has no legitimacy to act as president.

He is of the view that Ghana at this moment does not have a president.

Assigning treason to the Speaker’s action might be stretching the argument a bit far, Dr. Adusei Poku said, but stated that Mr. Doe Adjaho can be cited for “engaging in unconstitutionality”.

Though the presidential oath is taken once by the president for his tenure in office, it is cyclical for persons who act, he said, explaining that the acting could be a day or two weeks. There is therefore a challenge if the oath is not administered again for someone acting, he suggested.

However, the Member of Parliament for Bawku Central said once a person has taken the oath in an acting position, it can be reactivated to last for the entire period the person one is acting on his behalf stays in office.

He read the presidential oath of which the first paragraph states “I will at all times”, which he said means when one takes the oath it endures.

“If we stretch the argument that anytime he ceases to act because the president has come back into the jurisdiction then he has to take it again anytime the president goes out; it means that when the president himself has taken this oath and has stepped outside the jurisdiction, and is unable to act as president, when he then steps back into the jurisdiction, what happens? Does he also have to take the oath again before he can continue acting as the president of the Republic of Ghana?”