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Rule of law must triumph

The strongest is never strong enough to be always a master unless he transforms strength into right and obedience into duty, (Rousseau)

On August 29, this year, the day that the Supreme Court gave judgement in the Presidential Election Petition, I wrote requesting all peace-loving and committed Ghanaians, who were justifiably encouraging our people to accept the decision in good faith, to remember that there was only one Supreme Court in the country, and therefore, the plea must be extended to Ghanaians to at all times, respect and accept any decision of the Supreme Court.

 

My focus was the murmurs that were going round to the effect that some people in the government were unwilling to respect the judgement of the Supreme Court after the review, that a public land sold to Mr Jake Obetsebi Lamptey must be released to him.  There was some open defiance against the court’s decision.

Thankfully, it seems that now good reason has given way to a better one and the government is ready and prepared to release the property to him so that his interest in the land will be sustained.  Indeed, the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing that has control over public landed property on behalf of the President and the state has publicly announced the readiness to hand over the keys of the property to enable Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey to take possession and occupation of the land.

Unfortunately, some individuals claiming to be members of the National Democratic Congress, lacking appreciation of the norms of due process and the rule of law, are reported to have besieged the place, vowing that they would ensure that the land is not released to him.

Again, the Deputy Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, who responded to an interview on a radio station, did not seem to attach any sense of urgency to the matter when he repeatedly refused to commit himself to a timetable to return the keys to the building to Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey, on the alibi that until public property, in terms of chattels in the house are inventoried and removed from the house, he could not tell when, except that it would be within a reasonable time frame.

It is imperative that once the government has accepted the judgement of the Supreme Court, everything is done to enable the owner to take possession and be in occupation, no matter the reservations that others may have about the decision of the court.

Whereas it could be argued that political office holders often gain advantage over most of the citizens in terms of such concessions, Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey is not the first or only person to have benefitted from the sale of public land.  Indeed, it appears in his case he paid an economic rate for the land.

Indeed, the time has come for a thorough rethinking of the policy which enables politicians to gain access to public property.  But it should never be misinterpreted that only Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey is a culprit.  Most of the lands at Kanda were sold to leading members of the Convention Peoples Party.  All the other governments, both civilian and military had continued the practice.

It became more widespread and diffused when the government decided to look into the alternative of paying political office holders to rent their own houses.  That would be cheaper to the tax payer since the routine furnishing and rehabilitation of the government bungalows, either with the changeover of the governments or appointees, is costly to the state.

That is why some of us do not understand the public outcry against the GH¢50,000 granted Members of Parliament as rent allowance for their full tenure of four years, when in some instances the government bungalows for Ministers of State, their deputies and other government functionaries had cost us several hundred thousands of cedis against the background that they could purchase the chattels after three or more years of use.

But, the time has come for our politicians to come to some common understanding that democracy is not only about numbers, but equally about respect for rules and regulations.  Therefore, in pursuing any policy or project, there must be principles that must stand the test of equity, probity and accountability and that what is bad must be bad under any government and not only directed against political opponents.

Otherwise, they sell themselves cheap to the citizens and turn round to accuse them of failing to recognise the sacrifices politicians make.  Therefore, if the policy of selling public land to government appointees is bad, it must be bad at all times, not when beneficiaries are out of power.

Again, we must all take a look at our Supreme Court, as to whether its decisions, at all times, help to advance the cause of our people and give meaning to the fact that sovereignty derives from the will of our people.

For now, let the government act to put Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey into possession and occupation of the property that he has duly paid for.  If the government is sincere about changing the policy of selling such public land, the decision must be made and passed into an act, but with recognition that our constitution abhors policy or legislation with retroactivity.

More important, all those bodies that actively campaigned to calm nerves and urged the citizenry to accept the judgement of the Supreme Court in the election petition, must encourage the government and dissuade the NDC members from holding the Supreme Court in contempt.

 

Daily Graphic/Ghana

A version of this article appears in print on November 7, 2013, on page 07 of the Daily Graphic with the headline: Rule of law must triumph

 

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