President must not appoint Attorney General – Ablakwa

Ranking Member on the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has singled out the Attorney General as an appointment that should not be under the umbrella of the presidency.

Speaking at an Institute of Economic Affairs forum on reviewing the 1992 constitution, Mr. Ablakwa said, “in considering the positions that he should have other bodies appoint and remove from the President, I would appeal that we can consider the Attorney General.”

The MP noted that this would help reduce government expenditure and ensure efficiency if an independent body appoints the Attorney General.

In addition, this would pave the way for a merger of the Attorney General and the Office of the Special Prosecutor, Mr. Ablakwa added.

The legislator believes the office of the Special Prosecutor duplicates the work of the Attorney General in fighting corruption.

“When we do that [remove the President’s powers of appointment], we may not even need the Office of the Special Prosecutor. I think they should be merged. I think that we have too big a size of the government.”

“[There are] Too many political appointees and too many institutions that are engaging in a lot of duplication. If we can take a second look at that, I think that it would be a bold way of addressing the corruption canker,” Mr. Ablakwa said.