The ISR Committee is Alien to the KNUST SRC Constitution; If it Must be Done, it Must be Done Right - Gifty Aku

The decorated KNUST Law Faculty Graduate and a final year student of the Ghana school of law has voiced out her legal opinions on the purported “ISRC Act 2020” which has been assented by the SRC President Adu-Baah Charles, granting the ISRC powers of the SRC to act in the stead of an active SRC amidst failure to conduct elections.

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Speaking to one of our reporters when asked for her legal brain on the subject matter, Miss Aku averred that following the presidential assent given, she suppose the SRC purported to create a resolution. She further stated that pursuant to Article 44 of the SRC Constitution,

“The power of Parliamentary Council to make resolutions shall be exercised by resolution bills passed by Parliament and assented to by the President.”

She shed more light on the fact that, there is nowhere in the SRC Constitution which gives the parliament of the SRC the power to pass Bills (which become Acts) unlike the case of national parliament where it is clearly stated in Art 106. She explained that in essence, what is being circulated must be a resolution, not an Act nor an LI.

Tilting to a bit of education, she explained, one will ask, assuming that all procedures for passing a resolution as stipulated in Article 44 of the SRC Constitution was duly complied with, can a resolution of parliament create new offices in the SRC? She answers No, but rather the most flexible law would’ve been the power of the SRC President to create ad hoc committees under Article 6(h)i, however, it still cannot be interpreted to mean that the president can create offices to be carried out as representatives of students on the University Council.

“The purported ISR committee is therefore alien to the SRC Constitution!” She exclaimed. The supremacy of the constitution under Art 2 of the SRC Constitution must be defended, and the said Act or Instrument must be an abrogation of the SRC Constitution and must therefore be resisted as clearly urged in Art 4 of the Constitution she pointed out.

She however ended the interview with an advice;

I advise that there’s no bar to the incumbent President being President until his handing over. School is currently not in session and I don’t see the feasibility in introducing the purported committee to the School’s authorities to act until school reopens because it’ll leave so many of us asking if the representation of students on the university council is by an appointment or by election as defined in Articles 12(1) and 22(5) of the SRC Constitution. I understand how difficult it must’ve been for the administration to reach this decision as I appreciate the difficulty the COVID has created everywhere. I sympathize with them. However, if it must be done, it must be done rightly.