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Lawyer John Agbotey, has described the lawsuit against JM as an interesting case as far as the 1992 is a reference.
He said the more the elements of the laws are tested, the more they get updated to be comprehended.
In an interview on PM. Ghana on Adoatv, the lawyer confirmed that there is a kind of lacuna in the constitution. “The constitution throughout has not stated categorically what the position of an ex-MP is in terms of losing an election and coming back in the case of JM he said”.
According to Lawyer Agbotey, the framers of the Constitution did not perceive a situation such as JM’s lawsuit case and therefore did not make provisions ahead of it.
He said, the Constitution only clarifies the term of a Presidency which is 4 years and nobody will be in office as president for more than two terms which is 8 years.
He adduced that as to whether the two terms could be separated or if they will be continuity in the second term, the constitution did not clarify. Answering the question of why Articles 62, 63, and 68 have not been changed while the second defendant contested in the election 2020, why it becomes a problem now in 2023?
John Agbotey in response hinted, the applicants might have not adverted their minds to the proposed lacuna in the law during election 2020, but has now caught the attention of applicants.
Talking about 62; 2 on the Plaintiff’s petition, on whether or not it has been a trigger in parliament.
The Hon. Lawyer frantically declined, saying it has never been treated in parliament. Regardless, the lawsuit has become a peculiar task for the New Chief Justice, Justice Gertrude Torkornoo to handle. According to Lawyer Agbotey, the timing for the sue is a bad one considering his recent inauguration with this lawsuit in office.
He said the end decision will help the Nation and therefore urged Ghanaians to not polities the issue.
Background:
Former President, John Dramani Mahama has been sued by a Ghanaian citizen over his bid to vie for a second presidential term on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
In the suit filed by the Plaintiff; Kenneth Kwabena Agyei Kuranchie, he wants the Supreme Court to disqualify the former president from contesting as a flagbearer of a political party or the presidency in the future.
According to him, the constitution through Article 66 (1) of the 1992 Constitution indicates that a person seeking a second presidential term must be a sitting president, and in the case of former President Mahama, he is only seeking to recontest after being out of office for about 8 years.
For an in-depth background story click the link below:
Source: Adoanews.com
