Council of State not robust; We can’t continue spending on them – Martin Kpebu

A private legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu has indicated that Ghana’s Council of State is not robust enough for the benefit they derive from the country.

According to him, the president has too much power relative to the number of persons he appoints to the Council thus making it difficult to effectively perform its function.

“Because to start with, the President appoints eleven of the members straight so he has eleven in his pocket. He alone will decide maybe he can give to his friends and family. Then you have a rep from each region. So in such a situation, we are in for trouble.”

“So for me, this Council of State, generally, is not robust and it's because of the composition. These are friends. It is very odd to bring in an opposition member. E.T Mensah’s own is an exception.”

Speaking on Newsfile on June 11, 2022, he further made reference to the Report of the Constitutional Review Commission which recommended a drastic reduction in the numbers of the Council of State.

“I will say that the Commission agreed that this Council of State needs a drastic overhaul because, from the way they operate, we are not able to get that kind of credible independent advice that we wish in a democracy such as ours.”

Further to the above, Mr. Kpebu noted that the country cannot continue spending so much on the Council of State and corroborated it with provisions from page 132 of the report of the Constitutional Review Committee.

“The Commission recommends that the composition of the Council of State should be radically revised so that the number of members appointed by the President out of a total of not more than 25 members, is reduced considerably from eleven to five. 

An equal number of submissions called for the abolition of the Council of State. Those who held this view indicated that the Council of State has outlived its usefulness.”