Relevant council of state
There is a saying that in giving advice you must seek to help not to please your friend. In the words of the Willy Brandt Commission, “the greatest compliment that you can pay to a friend is to be candid with him.”
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Last Monday, at the inauguration of the Council of State, the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, resonated these sentiments when he charged the members of the council to proffer him sincere and independently objective advice. It was heart -warming when the Chairman of the Council, Nana Otuo Siribuor, gave the assurance that they would be guided by national interest in proffering advice.
Some members of the Council have acted in subservient roles to our Presidents, standing on political platforms to canvass for votes or espouse the achievements of the government, instead of defending the national interest.
There are some members of the Council who have represented the President at otherwise partisan events or at national events with partisan statements. Such developments have caused opprobrium and brought the integrity of the council into disrepute. These dysfunctional acts have caused some members of the public to argue that there is no need for the Council.
Those who get elected or appointed to serve on the Council are men and women of proven integrity and national service. They have been given specific obligations to perform beyond advice to the President, even if some of them are appointed by the President. No President would want to appoint a person of straw in character or with blemish to serve on the Council. Therefore, members must protect their integrity rather than become sycophants.
The current members of the Council are men and women of accomplishment. Therefore, they should be able to look at the President in the
eye and advise him accordingly to give meaning to democracy, the rule of law and good governance.
Our Presidents on their own authority and in some instances in consultation with Parliament, appointed those they are mandated to appoint because they see in them something meaningful that could be exploited to serve our nation better. If such persons come to the Council and begin to fawn or defer needlessly to the President, they fail in meeting their constitutional obligations.
A recent lesson must inform them. Dr Vladmir Antwi Danso, when asked in a radio interview about his thought on Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah in having his name entrenched in the constitution as life President remarked that Dr Nkrumah never pointed a gun at the heads of any Member of Parliament to act. Thus, if they voluntarily voted to so amend the constitution, they must be blamed for their actions. It means that where right thinking people decide to become sycophants and play subservience, they must take responsibility for their actions.
Indeed, the Council of State, apart from advising the President on key legislation and certain appointments, is also to advice Ministers of State and Parliament, as well as anybody or authority established by the Constitution. Beyond these, the Council is to perform such other functions as may be assigned to it by the constitution or any other law not inconsistent with the constitution.
There is nowhere that members of the Council are to run errands for or represent the President at any function. It is thus imperative that members of the Council discharge their obligations with utmost objectivity and uphold the national interest at all times.
Whilst all activities of the Council are to be held in camera, there is a window to enable the public observe some of its activities. The constitution provides that where the council considers appropriate, it may open its meetings to the public. Again, the advice of the Council is persuasive in nature than obligatory since the beneficiaries of its advice shall not be required to act in accordance with any recommendation it makes.
Since the constitution does not want the interactions between the Council and those it is obliged to advise to be in the open, it becomes even more repugnant when a member of the council appears in public to act in a partisan nature in support of the President. It is in the interest of members of the Council of State to be candid with the President or any of the bodies or authorities it is supposed to advise, so that their dignity would not be punctured if their advice is spurned.
It is only when members of the Council do not subordinate their authority to the President and any other body that they would win the trust and confidence of the people and become more relevant in strengthening our constitutional democracy.