A retired Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Jones Victor Mawulorm Dotse, has explained that amendment of provisions referred to as “entrenched provisions” in the 1992 Constitution of Ghana involves elaborate and cumbersome procedures.

He further said that the Presidential Office Act 1993 (Act 463) is part of the provisions captured under Chapter 8 of the 1992 Constitution, labelled as “Executive”, thus, an entrenched provision.

Justice Dotse was delivering a Paper under the theme; “Constitutionality of the Presidential Office Act 1993, (Act 463)” at the 6^th Nathan Anang Quao Annual Lecture and Excellence Awards, 2023, organised by the Civil and Local Government Staff Association, Ghana (CLOGSAG).

Making reference to comments by Supreme Court Judges on the application and interpretation of Act 463 by the Supreme Court in the case of Mr. Martin Amidu v President Kufuor and Others (2001-2003) SCGLR 86, the retired Justice maintained that “the Presidential Office Act 1993 (Act 463) has been properly passed by Parliament and is thus consistent with the Constitution”.

He however, maintained that the law in its current form gave the President of the day “extreme laxity” to do as he pleases while in office.

“The question that begs for an answer is whether such an entrenched provision of the Constitution i.e. Article 71 provisions can be made part of an Act of Parliament the way it was handled?”, he quizzed.

In a concluding remarks, Justice Dotse recommended that CLOGSAG could lead advocacy for the amendment of the Act, despite the elaborate and cumbersome procedures involved.

“May be lobbying and advocacy with relevant government agencies with a view to lessen and reduce the effect of the operations of Act 463 on the fortunes of Civil and Local Government staff in the Service might be more productive”, he hinted.

Touching on the issue of ex-gratia and putting the records straight, the retired Justice stated unequivocally that Judges in Ghana do not take ex-gratia as perceived in the public domain.

He explained that Judges have permanence in the delivery of their roles until they reach the compulsory retirement age.

He added that payment of ex-gratia was constitutional and political officeholders are beneficiaries of the payments as they serve under fixed terms, typically four years, before leaving office.  

Speaking at the event, the Secretary-General of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Dr. Anthony Yaw Baah, disclosed that the union has put measures in place to seek legal interpretation at the Supreme Court over Act 651 which bars officers of Security Agencies’ from unionizing. 

“The TUC is going to court on a number of things. If you look at the first part of Act 651, the scope of the law limits unionization. For example, Immigration Officers, Prison Officers, the Police and so on, cannot join or form a union to defend their interests”, he said.

Adding, “We think that is unconstitutional and so we have already instructed our lawyers to go to Supreme Court on this matter”.

For his part, the Deputy Minister, Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations, Hon. Bright Wireko-Brobbey, called on the TUC to rescind its decision to take legal action on the matter.

He added that there is a need to consider changes in the world of work, among other pertinent factors before undertaking such action.

“Be sure that you are taking into consideration how the world of work has metamorphosed”, the Deputy Minister stressed to the TUC. 

According to him, the law is undergoing review with eminent people such as Organised Labour, Employers, Government, Lawyers, Attorney-General and Consultant, involved in the process which will be put before Parliament for consideration.