Head of Ahmed Legal Consult, Musah Ahmed, has asked the Roads Minister to consult the Attorney-General, Godfred Dame on the right steps to take with regards to the suspension of payment of road toll.
Speaking on JoyNews' The Law, he told host, Samson Lardy Anyenini that the consultation is important because Mr. Kwasi Amoako-Attah faulted by directing the suspension of payment of road toll following government's proposal to scrap the tax as indicated by the Finance Minister in the 2022 budget.
He noted that it was a mistake on the part of the Roads Minister to have issued such a directive by the use of a letter and not following due process.
"If you want to reverse the exercise of that power, you must in the same vein do it in accordance with due process of law. Due process of law in the sense that you cannot just by a fiat, by means of a letter revoke what you use a due process of law to enact.
Even Parliament cannot sit down and revoke a law. They have a procedure by which a law can be amended, revoked, additions can be made. Therefore, the Minister's purported letter in my opinion was a mistake on his part," he said on Sunday.
He therefore advised that "He (Roads Minister) should go back, contact his lawyers, in fact, consult the Attorney-General who under Article 88 is the Chief legal advisor to the government to advise the Minister.
The Minister should consult the Attorney-General as to the proper thing to do because he cannot by a fiat or letter purport to revoke it. Especially so, when the decision was contained in the government's budget."
It would be recalled that following government's decision to halt the payment of tax which was subjected to Parliamentary approval per the 2022 budget, read by Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, the Roads Minister issued a directive that toll collection at the various toll booths across the country must be halted effective Thursday, November 18, 2021.
This directive was not welcomed by the Minority in Parliament who therefore registered their displeasure to Speaker Alban Bagbin.
The Speaker, after hearing the matter ordered the sector Minister to withdraw the directive since he lacked the power to do so without Parliamentary approval.
In response, the Ministry in a press statement indicated that its directive was to suspend the operationalisation of the toll and not the law.
But Mr Ahmed insists due processes were not followed by the Minister. "The (Finance) Minister himself had indicated in the budget statement that subject to Parliamentary approval. So what was the rush for?" he quizzed.
The Legal Expert expressed the view that there is still time to right the wrong that has been committed.
Latest Stories
-
DAMC, Free Food Company, to distribute 10,000 packs of food to street kids
19 minutes -
Kwame Boafo Akuffo: Court ruling on re-collation flawed
39 minutes -
Samuel Yaw Adusei: The strategist behind NDC’s electoral security in Ashanti region
41 minutes -
I’m confident posterity will judge my performance well – Akufo-Addo
53 minutes -
Syria’s minorities seek security as country charts new future
2 hours -
Prof. Nana Aba Appiah Amfo re-appointed as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana
2 hours -
German police probe market attack security and warnings
2 hours -
Grief and anger in Magdeburg after Christmas market attack
2 hours -
Baltasar Coin becomes first Ghanaian meme coin to hit DEX Screener at $100K market cap
3 hours -
EC blames re-collation of disputed results on widespread lawlessness by party supporters
3 hours -
Top 20 Ghanaian songs released in 2024
3 hours -
Beating Messi’s Inter Miami to MLS Cup feels amazing – Joseph Paintsil
3 hours -
NDC administration will reverse all ‘last-minute’ gov’t employee promotions – Asiedu Nketiah
4 hours -
Kudus sights ‘authority and kingship’ for elephant stool celebration
4 hours -
We’ll embrace cutting-edge technologies to address emerging healthcare needs – Prof. Antwi-Kusi
4 hours