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Chief Scout Commissioner’s tenure
challenged
Accra, June 7, Ghanadot/GNA- Three officers of the Ghana
Scout Association (GSA), have filed a writ at an Accra Fast
Track Court, praying it to restrain the Chief Scout
Commissioner (CSC), and his deputy, from holding themselves
as officers of the association, because their tenure ended
on May 21, 2008.
In addition, they are asking for an order from the court
that “by virtue of the White Paper issued by the government
of Ghana against Mr Louis Parcoo, Property Commissioner in
1997, he is not an eligible member of GSA.
The three, who are members of the Greater-Accra Regional
Scout Council, are Commissioner Abdul Hamid, Commissioner
Abdul Aziz, and Skipper Jerry Aikins.
They are praying the court for an order to appoint an
Interim Management Committee (IMC), which, in their view,
would organize an Annual General Meeting (AGM), to elect new
officers for the association.
Another relief sought include an order to compel the CSC and
his other executives, to render proper accounts of their
stewardship, and an additional order “that all appointments
made after the end of the term of office of the CSC and his
deputy, be nullified.”
They also want an order to restrain the CSC and his deputy
from “signing any cheques in the name of GS or attend any
international scout programme in the name of the
association.
In their statement of claim, the plaintiffs contend that at
a meeting held at Sakyikrom from November 11 to 13, 2005,
they were surprised that the CSC, unilaterally brought an
entirely new constitution, claiming it had been adopted from
the constitution of the Ugandan Scout Association, and
proposed that for review.
He said the constitution they expected the CSC to bring
along was the existing one, which was to be discussed and
amended.
They further contend that no consensus was reached at the
Sakyikrom meeting on the final document of the constitution,
largely because the CSC and his deputy virtually wanted to
dictate how the amendment should go.
He said members present agreed that a meeting of
representatives from all the Regional Scout Councils,
without the CSC and his deputy, be held at a later date to
review the proposed constitution.
The plaintiffs contend that while waiting for a meeting on
the proposed document, the CSC issued a letter on January
17, 2008 to the effect that the proposed constitution had
been adopted and had taken retrospective effect from January
10, 2008.
It is the plaintiffs’ contention that the CSC and his deputy
have “an interest in changing the association’s constitution
to suit themselves, and hand over to a person of their
choice, and to perpetuate their office at the GSA.
It is plaintiffs’ further contention that the proposed
constitution “is intended to deprive the National Scout
Council, the right to elect officers,” adding that, too much
power had been vested in the CSC by the proposed
constitution and was undemocratic and dangerous.
They said the Deputy Chief Scout Commissioner breached the
scout procedures of doing things, by sending her daughter
outside to contest the position of a secretary at the
African Youth Secretariat without the knowledge of either
the National Scout Council, nor the Regional and District
Councils.
The plaintiffs contend also that the deputy scout
commissioner abused her office by sponsoring her daughter,
who was not a member of the GSA, using the resources of the
association, and representing falsely that the daughter had
been selected by the association.
They finally contend that until restrained by the court, the
CSC and his deputy, not only “intend to hold an AGM from
June 27 to June 28, 2008, to elect officers in accordance
with their proposed constitution, but “will continue in
their bid to impose this proposed Constitution on the GSA
and perpetuate their office“.
GNA
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