Presidential aspirant of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Alban Bagbin, has stated there must be a revision in the provisions made in the Constitution which grants the President immunity from prosecution and paying taxes while in office.
Article 57 (5) of the 1992 Constitution states that “the President shall not, while in office as President, be personally liable to any civil or criminal proceedings in court while Article 68 (3) also exempts the President from paying taxes while serving in office.
However speaking on Accra-based Citi FM, Mr Bagbin argued that, in a country that values the rule of law and is committed to fighting corruption, it doesn’t make sense for the incumbent or former President to be excluded from prosecution and conviction should they flout any laws.
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He noted that, the mandatory tax payment by the President will be an indication of tax importance to the public.
“One of the things I want to see in our Constitution is for that immunity for our Presidents to be removed. They should be the first to be subjected to the law, why should they be exempted? Like [immunity from] paying taxes, commission of crimes and all those things don’t make us all equal before the law. We need to use some of these things to fight corruption. The President should pay tax, why not? Leadership by example” he stated.
Mr Bagbin made this same clarion call in 2018 where he stated “There are a few things we got wrong in the 1992 constitution and I would want to change that because we say we are practicing multiparty constitutional democracy and the rule of law. But in our constitution now, we have exempted the leader(s) from the whole process of the rule of law and that exemption, I don’t think is right.
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There should be reviews in our constitution, we should be able to prosecute our Presidents when they are in office, not out of office, they should be part of the law. We should make sure we focus on doing what is right, what is lawful and what is in the interest of the people. Even in other countries don’t they prosecute their President(s) when they are in office?” He queried.
