It’s time to reduce the powers of our Presidents – Ablakwa

The Member of Parliament for the North Tongu constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has stated that Ghana’s presidents have been permitted to overutilise their powers.

Speaking on Joy Prime‘s Prime Morning Show on Monday, he criticised the Akufo-Addo-led government for implementing what he describes as opaque policies.

He claims that the presidency does not follow the necessary procedures or obtain the consent of legislators before assenting to policies.

As a result, he said the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is putting together policies aimed at diminishing presidential powers to ensure transparency and flexibility.

“The time has come for the powers of the President to be reduced. We’ve created a monster in the president. He has too much power,” the North Tongu MP stated.

He added that state properties are sold to government officials without proper scrutiny or consulting members of Parliament. Such proposals, he said, never appear before Parliament.

Mr. Ablakwa emphasized that the NPP government has incurred excessive expenditures that could have been avoided, adding that people are not elected to government at the expense of the citizens but for accountability.

“You don’t bring people into government to live like Arabian kings and Russian oligarchs at our expense. Where were their private jets when they were in opposition? These are the things that are burdening us.”

According to him, all procedures are done in secrecy, which is why he goes undercover to investigate and uncover information for the public so as to keep the government in check.

Therefore, apart from character and integrity, the NDC will ensure transparency in policymaking and other governmental issues with well-structured mechanisms, including “deep constitutional reforms when elected into power,” according to him.