13 to work on Presidential Transition Team

 
By Maxwell Ofori, Parliament House
[email protected].
A bill that seeks to amend the Presidential (Transition) Act, 2012 (Act 845) to address the loopholes identified in the Act, and ensure an effective and smooth presidential transition, has been passed by Parliament.

The amendment became necessary, as the Act 845, when implemented for the first time, experienced some challenges, a memorandum to the bill stated. Arguments were advanced to the effect that even though Act 845 made provisions in section 1 for the transfer of power to an incumbent President re-elected for a second term, it appeared vague in some respects, and needed elaboration, said the memoranda.

The Bill, in clause one, amends section 1 of Act 845, by providing for the constitution of a transition team within twenty-four (24) hours after the declaration of the results of the presidential election, in accordance with article 63 of the Constitution.

The clause also makes provision for the membership of the transition team in a situation where the incumbent is elected as President, as well as in a situation where a new person is elected as President.

Meanwhile, in the case where an incumbent is re-elected, Act 845 simply states that the President shall designate members of the transition team.

However, a limit was not set on the size of the transition team, and Act 845 did not make provision for the tenure of office of the transition team.

Therefore, the number of the transition team in this Bill has been reduced from twenty-two to thirteen to help limit the cost, relating to persons appointed to the Transition Team.

According to the Bill, where members of the Transition Team numbered thirteen, a quorum of one-third is specified to make it easier for the transition team to transact business.

This Bill also introduced, in clause 3, a new section 3(A), which provides for the tenure of office of members of the transition team. The tenure has been limited to within six-weeks after the election of the President.

The Deputy Attorney General, Dominic Ayine, on behalf of his boss, moved the motion on Wednesday, for the third reading of the Presidential (Transition) (Amendment) Bill, 2016, after which the Bill was passed into law.