Appianin’s appointment as DDG is likely violation of Ghana Maritime Authority law
The stealth appointment of the suspended District Chief Executive of Denkyira-Obuasi as Deputy Director-General of the Ghana Maritime Authority is looking like infringement of the law that set up the Authority. The Act that established the Authority, Act 630, the Ghana Maritime Authority Act 2002 has clearly laid out the management positions for the institution and it does not include a Deputy Director-General, the position that was quietly created for Appianin while he was supposed to be on suspension. There is no information in the public domain to the effect that the suspension has been lifted.
Authoritative sources within the maritime industry in Ghana who spoke to ghanabusinessnews.com said when the law was being drafted, it contained a position for a Deputy Director-General, but at the final stages of consideration, it was removed before the law was passed.
“If the law doesn’t have a position for Deputy Director-General, and you create one at the Authority, what have you done?” One asked.
Another said: “if we are professing the rule of law as a country, then this act is obviously at variance to that.”
Meanwhile, officials of the Authority won’t answer a simple question like when Appianin was appointed.
The law is clear about the positions that are tenable at the Authority.
Sections 11 and 12 outline the management positions. The Authority can only have a Director-General and Directors of Divisions. There is no place for a Deputy Director-General.
- Director-General of the Authority
(1) The Authority shall have as its chief executive a Director-General who shall be appointed by the President in accordance with article 195 of the Constitution.
(2) The Director-General shall hold office on the terms and conditions specified in the letter of appointment.
(3) Subject to the general directives that the Board may give and to this Act, the Director General is responsible for the efficient organisation and management of the affairs of the Authority.
- Directors of the Divisions
The Directors in charge of the Divisions of the Authority shall be appointed by the President in accordance with article 195 of the Constitution.
Such blatant abuse of laws by the appointing authorities, who are very likely to be elected officials is counter-productive to Ghana’s democracy.
At a one-day public discussion organised by CDD-Ghana Friday January 12, 2018 in Accra to assess the New Patriotic Party government’s one year in office, the verdict was that while the government has some positives, it has many negatives, and topping the list are lawlessness and politicisation of governance – a situation where the political party in power dominates in the governance process. While the trend is not new in the Fourth Republic, it has been intensified under the Akufo-Addo NPP government.
By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi
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