Government has breached Article 195 and the Local Gov’t Act – CLOGSAG

The Civil and Local Government Staff Association Ghana (CLOGSAG) has accused the Deputy Minister for Local Government and Rural Development of breaching Article 195(1) of the 1992 constitution by appointing a “known” politician in the person of Henrietta Lamptey as the Registrar of Birth and Death Department.

According to CLOGSAG, the position of Registrar of Births and Deaths Registry per Act 1027 should be occupied by a person with relevant academic qualification, experience and knowledge in civil registration.

At a press briefing in Accra on March 16, 2022, the Executive Secretary of the Association, Isaac Bampoe Addo noted that, “the blatant disregard for procedures of appointments into the Civil Service and the Local Government Service as well as the neutrality principle are unwarranted and regrettable”.

He submitted that under “section 8(1)(a) of Act 1027, a district office of the Registry is a department of the District Assembly. The District Assembly is part of the Local Government Structure. Therefore the Births and Deaths Registry is part of the Civil Service and the Local Government Service;

Article 195(1) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, “the power to appoint persons to hold or to act in an office in the Public Services shall vest in the President, acting in accordance with the advice of the Governing Council concerned given in consultation with the Public Services Commission’, the appointment of Madam Henrietta Lamptey is not in accordance with the advice of the Civil Service Council”.

Mr. Bampoe Addo said, the National Executive Council at its meeting held on Friday March 11, 2020 resolved that;

“(a) the political appointment of the Registrar of Births and Deaths should be reversed.

(b) The government should, as a matter of urgency, bring sanity to the Births and Deaths Registry.

(c) Should these attempts fail, CLOGSAG shall use any means whatsoever at its disposal to rectify the situation at Births and Deaths Registry”

By Edzorna Francis Mensah