Wanted for Urgent Employment: Independent Presidential Counsel

Originally written on 31 January 2009

Over the past couple of weeks, I have had several opportunities to point out blatant breaches of our laws and the Constitution by either the President or members of his team. Other people have also made similar observations.

These breaches of the law make his government a sitting duck, exposed to embarrassing legal challenges in our law courts. I am bold enough to say that anyone who takes the President to court on some of his actions will become a hero overnight, a 21st Century Amoako Tuffuor.

I do not think that all of these breaches are deliberate. I have identified something that the President urgently requires: an independent counsel. Yes, I am aware of the Constitutional role given to the Attorney-General as the chief legal adviser of the government. But I am not talking about counsel for the entire government. I am talking counsel for the President. The Attorney-General, when appointed, will be a very busy person. It might be impracticable to get the Attorney-General to give the president legal counsel on every decision that he is about to make. Requests for memos from the Attorney-General’s Department might take weeks to be met. But what the President appears to need is a quick, sharp legal brain with mastery over the Constitution and Ghana’s laws, whose key role is to give the President advice on all his decisions. This President needs one, and very quickly.

A similar role exists in the US White House, known officially as the Office of the Counsel to the President, aka White House Counsel. I recommend that we call the Ghana equivalent the Independent Presidential Counsel. But just like the US, Independent Presidential Counsel in Ghana should be responsible for advising on all legal aspects of policy questions, legal issues arising in connection with the President's work, constitutional and legal compliance, ethical questions, financial disclosures, and conflicts of interest during employment and post employment, etc. The Independent Presidential Counsel will also help define the line between official and political activities, advice on executive appointments and judicial selection, presidential pardons, review legislation and Presidential statements.

As I have stated, this will not be a duplication of the work of the Attorney-General. The Independent Presidential Counsel will advise the office of the President alone. What about disagreements with the Attorney-General? That, in my view would be good, because it would give the President contrasting views and a balance, which will only enrich his decision-making, and not expose him to making some of the mistakes he is making right now. If the roles are well-defined, we should not have any problems, and the country will be the ultimate beneficiary.Right now, the President appears to be groping in the dark, hunting and pecking, and looking all goofy.