An Application by the Centre for Constitution Order at the Supreme Court to restrain J.H. Owusu-Acheampong, the Member of the Council of State for Brong Ahafo Region appointed by President Mills to head his campaign team in his bid to become the National Democratic Congress (NDC) flag bearer in the 2012 presidential race, was unanimously dismissed on Thusday. This was after the head of the centre, Mr. Dennis Ofosu-Appiah failed to convince the nine judges presided over by Justice William Atuguba, how Mr. Owusu-Acheampong by accepting to be the president’s campaign manager, had acted in contravention of Article 89(1) and (2) clause C of the 1992 Constitution. The head of the centre which also sued Mr. Owusu-Acheampong and the Attorney-General according to the judges “was not able to give us a clear articulation of the cause of his action so we are not able to grant it,” and consequently dismissed the motion. Neither the president nor any of the respondents was in court at the time the case was called. In moving the motion, counsel for the centre stated that on May 7, 2011 the president appointed Mr. Owusu-Acheampong as the head of his campaign team in a bid to get re-elected by the NDC delegates to stand as the party’s presidential candidate. He told the court that as a member of the council of state, the second respondent was not elected on partisan basis to represent the Brong Ahafo and it therefore “sinned against Article 89 (1) and (2) clause C of the 1992 Constitution” for Mr. Owusu Acheampong to have accepted to be the campaign manager of the president when he was elected to represent the whole region irrespective of their political affiliation. He said the action of the second respondent offended the people of his region and he should therefore be stopped adding that stopping him from being Mills’ campaign manager would not lead to any irreparable damage till the final determination of the matter. However Justice Sule Gbadegbe asked counsel whether he was seeking an interim injunction or interlocutory injunction to which he said he was seeking to have an injunction to restrain the council of state member till the substantive matter was determined. Justice Gbadegebe then told him that it should have been an interlocutory injunction and not an interim injunction to which counsel said the type of injunction required was lost on him. The justices wanted to know whether it was lawful to sue a sitting President to which counsel explained that he was not suing Mills in his capacity as the President but as the member of a party. When asked what exactly he wanted the court to do, Mr. Ofosu-Appiah explained that he wanted them to explain the whole article and to restrain the campaign manager but the judges said they could not do that until he was able to state in clear terms his points. Justice Sophia Akuffo asked counsel to explain explicitly how the appointment of the second respondent violated the said article of the 1992 Constitution because he could not just ask them to explain the whole article for him. Counsel said the appointment of the council member was not on a partisan basis so he was not expected to be partisan to which Justice Atuguba remarked that it was surprising how presidents are allowed to indulge in politics but some persons under them were not. In addition, the head of the centre was of the opinion that members of the council of state like chiefs were not allowed to be partisan to which the judges explained that the role of chiefs had been clearly spelt out. Furthermore the judges noted that the role of cabinet members and parliamentarians is to advise the president and yet they are allowed to be partisan to which counsel responded that his beef was with the fact that the region the second respondent was representing was made up of persons from different political affiliations, some of who are not even political. The judges in a couple of minutes gave their verdict read by Justice Atuguba dismissing the application. Other judges included Prof. Date-Baah, Justices Julius Ansah, Sophia Adinyera, B.T. Aryeetey, R. O. Owusu and Vida Akoto-Bamfo The Head of the Centre for Constitutional Order, Dennis Ofosu-Appiah, a civil rights lawyer later in interviews with the media contended that he foresaw a problem if other members of the council took a cue from what the president had done and decided to join the campaign teams of other political parties. He told Joy FM “members of the council cannot do active partisan politics because of their standing in our body politic in the sense that they are supposed to counsel the president in the performance of his duties.” He therefore wants the Supreme Court to declare Mr. Owusu-Acheampong’s appointment null and void. But Mr. Owusu-Acheampong said he is unperturbed by the suit and that the courts should be allowed to pronounce on the matter. “It is their right to try to do what they want but the law would have to take its course. It is what the law will say that is important to me,” he told Joy Fm. Mr. Owusu-Acheampong said “I have every right to be a chairman of the campaign team because being a member of the Council of State does not preclude me from being a campaign team manager.” Asked whether he was going to continue his work as a campaign manager of President Mills, Mr Owusu-Acheampong answered in the affirmative insisting, “I am going to go ahead… I am in Brong Ahafo. I am coming to Accra [and we will consult our lawyers to see how best we can handle this one.” According to him, the campaign which will run for two months will not prevent him from performing his duties as a Council of State member. Source: Daily Guide