I am not aware - Bartels

“I am not aware that Government has ever discussed this issue before or for Government to have taken a decision on the conversion of the Vice-President for Prime Minister Position. It is definitely not from Government as far as I am aware.” The above statement came from Information Minister Kwamena Bartels in response to The Statesman’s exclusive story on Monday.

It was reported that President John Agyekum Kufuor intends to propose a constitutional amendment abolishing the position of Vice President, and creating that of a Prime Minister in its place, who would be appointed by the President a la the French government system.

“I’m not aware that government has ever discussed and taken a decision on it. I’m not aware that the President has ever uttered those words, I’ve never heard it,” Mr. Bartels told an Accra based radio station. “I’m not in a position to vouch for The Statesman’s credibility in this matter,” he said, adding, “I have repeatedly said that I am not aware that Government has ever discussed this in Cabinet, I’m not aware that the President has ever mentioned an issue of this nature.”

But responding to the Minister’s comments last night on the same radio station, the editor-in-chief of The Statesman insisted on the credibility of the story, adding that it was instructive that the Minister, the official Government Spokesperson, fell short of saying categorically that the proposal for that constitutional amendment had never been the intention of the President.

Asare Otchere-Darko conceded that the matter may not have come before Cabinet; “Indeed, our story never made any such claim,” he told Joy. But, he went on to further revel that as late as last week, he was reliably informed that it was the intention of the President to introduce the proposal but only after the New Patriotic Party’s flag-bearership race was out of the way. The ruling party ins expected to elect its next presidential candidate in December.“We stand by our story,” he insisted.

Sources close to the President are cited as saying the proposed change, which would require a national referendum to remove the entrenched constitutional position, should have been mooted in 2005 but was shelved because the timing was inappropriate.