'Peace Council appointments are not political' - Prof Asante
The Governing Board of the National Peace Council (NPC) has stated that the composition of the board has no political consideration.
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It stated that the council was an independent and non-partisan body whose members were not appointed by a ruling government to promote partisan interest but rather appointed by their respective organisations “to facilitate and develop mechanisms for conflict prevention, management, resolution and to build sustainable peace in the country”.
Peace Council non-partisan
At a press conference in Accra yesterday, the Chairman of the board, the Most Reverend Professor Emmanuel Asante, said the reaction of the board was occasioned by a statement attributed to the Rt Rev. Prof. Emmanuel Martey, the outgoing Moderator of the Presbyterian Church, which sought to create the impression that the council was a partisan body.
Prof. Martey had been quoted as saying that some government officials approached him to lobby for the position of chairman of the NPC, which he refused.
But in a sharp rebuttal, the Most Rev. Prof. Asante said: “The Governing Board of the National Peace Council, however, considers the said statement to be very unfortunate, given that it does not only undermine the act that established the council; it also questions the integrity and independence of the council collectively and its eminent members individually.”
He said to correct that unfortunate impression created in the minds of Ghanaians by the statement in question, “we wish to draw attention to Section 4 of Act 818, which deals with the nomination of members of the Governing Board by their respective institutions and the election of a chairman by the council”.
Explaining further, he said the reaction of the board was not against the personality of Rev. Prof. Martey, saying: “We have no personal grudge against him.”
He said the issue was not about Rev. Prof. Martey and the council, but then the need had arisen for the board to clarify matters.
Constitutional mandate
Section 4 of Act 818 says: “The governing body of the council is a board consisting of 13 eminent persons” and lists their composition as a representative each from the Catholic Bishops Conference, the Christian Council of Ghana and the Ghana Pentecostal Council.
The rest are the National Council for Christian and Charismatic Churches, the Ahmadiya Muslim Mission, the Al-Sunnah Muslim Mission, the Tijaaniya Muslim Group, practitioners of African Traditional Religion and the National House of Chiefs.
Other members of the council, the Most Rev. Prof. Asante said, were two representatives nominated by the government, one of whom should be a woman, and two other persons nominated by identifiable groups.
He said although the 1992 Constitution gave the President the power to appoint the chairperson and members of boards, for the chairperson of the Governing Board of the NPC, Section 4 (2) of Act 818 that established the NPC stipulates that “the members of the board shall elect one of their number as chairperson”.
That, he said, had been the tradition and “we did exactly so in the election of the chairman”.
He assured Ghanaians that the NPC shall remain neutral and committed to its central mandate.
Writer’s email: [email protected]
