The Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye, has been sworn-in as the acting President of the republic.
This is the third time Prof. Oquaye has taken the seat as the acting President since assuming office as the Speaker of the Seventh Parliament of the Fourth Republic of Ghana.
Prof. Oquaye’s assumption of the presidential throne, Tuesday night, was occasioned by the absence of the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his Vice, Dr Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia, from the jurisdiction.
His swearing-in was in accordance with Article 60 (11) of the 1992 Republican Constitution which provides for the Speaker of Parliament to act in the absence of the President and his Vice.
“Where the President and the Vice-President are both unable to perform the functions of the President, the Speaker of Parliament shall perform those functions until the President or the Vice President is able to perform those functions or a new President assumes office as the case may be” it read.
In this regard, Prof. Oquaye subsequently took the Presidential Oath and the Oath of Secrecy, administered by the Chief Justice, Sophia Akuffo, in the presence of Members of Parliament, in accordance with Clause 12 of Article 60 of the Constitution.
“The Speaker shall, before commencing to perform the functions of the President under clause (11) of this article, take and subscribe the oath set out in relation to the office of President” it said.
Whilst President Akufo-Addo is on a one-week leave in the United Kingdom, Vice President Dr Bawumia is on a working visit to Cuba and would later be heading to Canada for a different function.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
