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From Roach Busters
CHAPTER I
HEAD OF STATE
The President
1. There shall be a President of _____ who shall be the Head of State and shall exercise and perform such powers and functions as are conferred on the President by this Constitution and any other written law.
Qualifications and disabilities of President
2. (1) A person shall be qualified for election as President if, and shall not be qualified unless, he —
(a) is a citizen of _____ by birth;
(b) has attained the age of 30 years; and
(c) is qualified to be elected as a member of the House of Assembly.
(2) The President shall —
(a) not hold any other office created or recognized by this Constitution;
(b) not actively engage in any commercial enterprise;
(c) not be a member of any political party; and
(d) if he is a member of Parliament, vacate his seat in Parliament.
(3) Nothing in subsection (2) shall be construed as requiring any person exercising the functions of the office of President under section six to —
(a) if he is a member of any political party, resign as a member of that party; or
(b) vacate his seat in Parliament or any other office created or recognized by this Constitution.
Election of President
3. (1) The President shall be elected by an electoral college consisting of the members of the Senate and the House of Assembly, at a meeting to be called in accordance with the provisions of this section and presided over by the Chief Justice of _____ or a judge of appeal designated by him.
(2) The election of a President shall be held at a time and place to be fixed by the Speaker of the House of Assembly or (in his absence) the Secretary to Parliament and made known by notice in the Gazette not less than fourteen days before such election.
(3) The date so fixed shall be a date not less than one month and not more than three months before the termination of the period of office of the President then holding office:
Provided that if the President dies or for any other reason vacates his office before the expiration of his period of office a date within three months after the office became vacant shall be so fixed.
Method of election
4. (1) Nominations of candidates for election as President shall be called for at the meeting at which the election is to take place, by the person presiding thereat.
(2) Every nomination shall be submitted in the form prescribed and shall be signed by two members of the electoral college and also by the person nominated, unless he has in writing or by telegram signified his willingness to accept nomination.
(3) The names of the persons duly nominated as provided in subsection (2) shall be announced at the meeting at which the elections is to take place by the person presiding thereat, and no debate shall be allowed at the election.
(4) If in respect of any election only one nomination has been received, the person presiding at the meeting shall declare the candidate in question to be duly elected.
(5) Where more that one candidate is nominated for election, a vote shall be taken by secret ballot, each member of the electoral college present at the meeting in question having one vote, and any candidate in whose favor a majority of all the votes cast is recorded, shall be declared duly elected by the person presiding at the meeting.
(6) (a) If no candidate obtains a majority of all the votes so cast, the candidate who received the smallest number of votes shall be eliminated and a further ballot taken in respect of the remaining candidates, this procedure being repeated as often as may be necessary until a candidate receives a majority of all the votes cast and is declared duly elected.
(b) Whenever two or more candidates being the lowest on the poll have received the same number of votes, the electoral college shall by separate vote, to be repeated as often as may be necessary, determine which of these candidates shall for the purpose of paragraph (a) be eliminated.
(7) (a ) Whenever ―
(i) only two candidates have been nominated; or
(ii) after the elimination of one or more candidates in accordance with the provisions of this section, only two candidates remain,
and there is an equality of votes between those two candidates, a further meeting shall be called in accordance with the provisions of section eight, and the provisions of this section shall apply as if such further meeting were the first meeting called for the purposes of the election in question.
(b) At the third meeting called in connection with any particular election, the person presiding at the meeting shall in the event of an equality of votes between any two candidates under the circumstances described in paragraph (a), have and exercise a casting vote.
(8) (a) The Speaker of the House of Assembly shall make rules in regard to the procedure to be observed at a meeting of the electoral college, including rules prescribing the form in which any nomination shall be submitted, and rules defining the duties of the presiding officer and of any person appointed to assist him and prescribing the manner in which the ballot at any such meeting shall be conducted.
(b) Any such rules shall be made known in such manner as the Speaker of the House of Assembly may consider necessary.
Tenure of office of President
5. (1) The President shall hold office for a period of seven years from the date upon which he takes the oath prescribed in section eight and shall, on the termination of his period of office, be eligible for re-election:
Provided that a President who has held office for two terms shall not be eligible for re-election for a third term of office.
(2) The President may resign by lodging his resignation in writing with the Prime Minister.
(3) The President shall at no time absent himself from _____ except with the prior consent of the Executive Council.
Acting President
6. (1) During any period when the office of the President is vacant or the President is absent from _____ or is for any reason unable to perform the functions of his office, those functions shall during that period be assumed and performed by such person as the Executive Council may appoint.
(2) Any person appointed in terms of subsection (1) shall cease to perform the functions of the President after the President has informed him that he is about to resume his functions or when a new President assumes office in terms of this Constitution.
(3) The President or any person acting as the President shall not, for the purpose of this section, be regarded as absent from _____ or as unable to perform the functions of the office of President at any time when there is a subsisting appointment of a deputy under section seven.
Deputy President
7. (1) Whenever the President ―
(a) has occasion to be absent from the seat of Government but not from _____; or
(b) has occasion to be absent from _____ for a period which he has reason to believe will not exceed one month; or
(c) is suffering from an illness which he has reason to believe will be of short duration;
he may, by instrument under the Public Seal of _____, appoint any person in _____ to be his deputy during such absence or illness, and in that capacity to perform on his behalf such of the functions of the office of the President as may be specified in that instrument.
(2) The power and authority of the President shall not be abridged, altered or in any way affected by the appointment of a deputy under this section and a deputy shall conform to and observe all instructions that the President may from time to time address to him:
Provided that the question whether or not a deputy has in any manner conformed to or observed any such instructions shall not be inquired into in any court.
(3) A person appointed as a deputy under this section shall hold the appointment for which period as may be specified in the instrument by which he is appointed, save that his appointment may be revoked at any time by the President.
Oath of office
8. Before entering on any of the duties of his office the President or Acting President, as the case may be, shall take and subscribe such oaths as may be prescribed by the Legislature, which oaths shall be administered by the Chief Justice or another judge of the High Court.
Civil List and personal staff of President
9. (1) The Legislature shall by law provide a Civil List for the maintenance of the President.
(2) The Civil List for the maintenance of the President shall be charged on and paid out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund and shall not be diminished during the continuance in office of the President.
(3) Subject to subsection (4), the appointment, terms of service, disciplinary control, termination of appointment and dismissal of the personal staff of the President shall be matters for the President acting in accordance with his own discretion.
(4) The President may, if he so desires, appoint to his personal staff such public officers as he may select, after consultation with the Prime Minister, from a list of names submitted by the Public Service Commission; and the provisions of subsection (3) (except in so far as they relate to appointment) shall apply in relation to a person so appointed as respects his service on the personal staff of the President but not as respects his service as a public officer.
(5) The remuneration of the personal staff of the President, other than a person appointed under sub-section (4), shall be defrayed out of the Civil List for the maintenance of the President.
Vacation of and removal from office of President
10. (1) The President may be removed from office in accordance with the provisions of this section.
(2) Whenever a notice of any allegation in writing signed by not less than one-third of the members of the Legislature: —
(a) is presented to the President of the Senate;
(b) stating that the holder of the office of President is guilty of gross misconduct in the performance of the functions of his office, detailed particulars of which shall be specified,
the President of the Senate shall within seven days of the receipt of the notice cause a copy thereof to be served on the holder of the office and on each member of the Legislature, and shall also cause any statement made in reply to the allegation by the holder of the office to be served on each member of the Legislature.
(3) Within fourteen days of the presentation of the notice to the President of the Senate (whether or not any statement was made by the President in reply to the allegation contained in the notice) each house of Parliament shall resolve by motion without any debate whether or not the allegation shall be investigated.
(4) A motion of the Legislature that the allegation be investigated shall not be declared as having been passed, unless it is supported by the votes of not less than two-thirds majority of all the members of each house of Parliament.
(5) Within seven days of the passing of a motion under the foregoing provisions, the Chief Justice of _____ shall at the request of the President of the Senate appoint a Panel of seven persons who in his opinion are of unquestionable integrity, not being members of any public service, legislative house or political party, to investigate the allegation as provide in this section.
(6) The President shall have the right to defend himself in person and be represented before the Panel by legal practitioners of his own choice.
(7) A Panel appointed under this section shall —
(a) have such powers and exercise its functions in accordance with such procedure as may be prescribed by the Legislature; and
(b) within three months of its appointment report its findings to each house of Parliament.
(8) Where the Panel reports to each house of Parliament that the allegation has not been proved, no further proceedings shall be taken in respect of the matter.
(9) Where the report of the Panel is that the allegation against the holder of the office has been proved, then within fourteen days of the receipt of the report at the house the Parliament shall consider the report, and if by a resolution of each house of Parliament supported by not less than two-thirds majority of all its members, the report of the Panel is adopted, then the holder of the office shall stand removed from office as from the date of the adoption of the report.
(10) No proceedings or determination of the Panel or of Parliament or any matter relating thereto shall be entertained or questioned in any court.
(11) The President shall cease to hold office, if —
(a) by a resolution passed by two-thirds majority of all the members of the Executive Council it is declared that the President is incapable of discharging the functions of his office; and
(b) the declaration is verified, after such medical examination as may be necessary, by a medical panel established under subsection (14) of this section in its report to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Assembly.
(12) Where the medical panel certifies in the report that in its opinion the President is suffering from such infirmity of body or mind as renders him permanently incapable of discharging the functions of his office, a notice thereof signed by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Assembly shall be published in the Gazette.
(13) The President shall cease to hold office as from the date of publication of the notice of the medical report pursuant to subsection (12) of this section.
(14) The medical panel to which this section relates shall be appointed by the President of the Senate, and shall comprise five medical practitioners in _____ —
(a) one of whom shall be the personal physician of the holder of the office concerned; and
(b) four other medical practitioners who have, in the opinion of the President of the Senate, attained a high degree of eminence in the field of medicine relative to the nature of the examination to be conducted in accordance with the foregoing provisions.
Protection of dignity and reputation of President
11. Any person who commits any act which is calculated to violate the dignity or injure the reputation of the President or Acting President shall be guilty of an offense and liable to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years.
Salary of President
12. (1) There shall be paid to the President out of and as a charge on the Consolidated Revenue Fund, in addition to any allowances appropriated from time to time by the Legislature, and apart from any privileges which he may enjoy, a salary of one hundred thousand dollars per annum.
(2) The salary of the President shall not be reduced during his term of office.
Pension payable to President and his widow
13. (1) There shall be payable out of and as a charge on the Consolidated Revenue Fund ―
(a) to any person who has at any time occupied the office of President, a pension at the rate of twenty-five thousand dollars per annum;
(b) to the widow of any such person, unless her marriage to him took place after the date on which he vacated office, a pension at the rate of two-thirds of the rate of the pension payable to such person.
(2) Any pension under subsection (1) shall be payable ―
(a) in the case of the President with effect from the day following that upon which he vacated office;
(b) in the case of his widow, with effect from the day following that upon which she became a widow.
Immunity from criminal and civil proceedings
14. (1) During the President’s tenure of office in accordance with this Constitution it shall be prohibited to institute or continue in court any criminal proceedings whatsoever against him.
(2) During the President’s tenure of office in accordance this Constitution, no civil proceedings against him shall be instituted in court in respect of anything done or not done, or purporting to have been done or not done, by him in his personal capacity as an ordinary citizen whether before or after he assumed the office of President, unless at least thirty days before the proceedings are instituted in court, notice of claim in writing has been delivered to him or sent to him pursuant to the procedure prescribed by an Act of Parliament, stating the nature of such proceedings, the cause of action, the name, residential address of the claimant and the relief which he claims.
(3) Except where he ceases to hold the office of President pursuant to the provisions of subsection (9) of section ten, it shall be prohibited to institute in court criminal or civil proceedings whatsoever against a person who was holding the office of President after he ceases to hold such office for anything he did in his capacity as President while he held the office of President in accordance with this Constitution.
CHAPTER II
PART I
THE LEGISLATURE
Legislative power
15. The legislative power of _____ shall be vested in the Legislature which shall consist of the President and the Parliament.
The Parliament
16. The Parliament of _____ shall consist of a Senate and a House of Assembly.
PART II
THE SENATE
Constitution of Senate
17. (1) The Senate shall consist of thirty senators of whom fifteen (hereinafter referred to as "elected senators") shall be elected by the House of Assembly and fifteen (hereinafter referred to as "appointed senators") shall be appointed by the President.
(2) The Senate shall be a permanent body and the term of office of a senator shall not be affected, and the seat of a senator shall not become vacant by reason of a dissolution of Parliament.
(3) One-third of the senators shall retire every second year.
(4) Subject to the provisions of section twenty-one, the term of office of a senator shall be six years from the date of his election or appointment:
Provided that ―
(a) a person who is elected or appointed a senator to fill a casual vacancy shall be deemed to be elected or appointed to serve only for the remainder of his predecessor's term of office;
(b) a person who is elected or appointed to fill a vacancy caused by the termination of a senator's period of office by effluxion of time shall, for the purposes of this section, be deemed to have been elected or appointed on such termination.
(5) A separate election shall be held for the filling of each casual vacancy among the elected senators.
(6) A retiring senator shall, if otherwise qualified, be eligible for re-election or reappointment from time to time.
(7) In this section, the expression "casual vacancy" means a vacancy occurring otherwise than by the termination of a senator's period of office by effluxion of time.
Elected senators
18. (1) After the first election of the Speaker in terms of section _____ and the first election of the Deputy Speaker in terms of section _____, the House of Assembly shall, before proceeding to any other business, elect fifteen senators; and thereafter, as soon as may be after the occurrence of a vacancy among the elected senators, the House of Assembly shall elect a person to fill such vacancy.
(2) The election of senators shall, whenever such election is contested, be according to the principle of proportional representation, each voter having one transferable vote.
(3) As soon as may be after the election of a senator, the Secretary to Parliament shall communicate to the President the name of the person elected.
Regulations for election of senators
19. The President shall, before the first election of senators in terms of section eighteen of this Constitution, make regulations prescribing the method of voting and of transferring and counting votes in any election of senators; and such regulations shall have effect as if enacted in this Constitution until Parliament shall otherwise provide.
Appointed senators
20. (1) As soon as may be alter the first election of senators under section eighteen of this Constitution, the President shall appoint fifteen senators, and thereafter, whenever there is a vacancy among the appointed senators, the President shall appoint a person to fill the vacancy:
Provided that, if there is at the same time a vacancy among the elected senators, the President may defer filling the vacancy among the appointed senators until the vacancy among the elected senators has been filled.
(2) Whenever a person is appointed a senator under this section, the President shall cause to be sent to the Secretary to Parliament a certificate signed by the President setting out the name of the person appointed and the date of appointment. Such certificate shall be conclusive for all purposes and shall not be questioned in any court of law.
(3) In the exercise of his functions under this section the President shall endeavor to appoint persons who he is satisfied have rendered distinguished public service or are persons of eminence in professional, commercial, industrial or agricultural life, including education, law, medicine, science, engineering and banking.
Tenure of office of first senators
21. For the purpose of securing that one-third of the senators shall retire every second year, at the first meeting of the Senate under this Constitution, the Senate shall by lot divide the senators into three classes, each class consisting of five elected senators and five appointed senators; and the term of office of the senators of the first class shall terminate at the expiry of a period of two years, the term of office of the senators of the second class shall terminate at the expiry of a period of four years, and the term of office of the senators of the third class shall terminate at the expiry of a period of six years, from the date of election or appointment, as the case may be. For the purposes of this section, appointed senators shall be deemed to have been appointed on the day on which elected senators are elected.
Standing committees of Senate
22. The Senate may from time to time establish standing committees as it may deem fit, and any Minister or Deputy Minister may at any time with due regard to the rules of the Senate, move that any matter be referred to such a committee for investigation and report.
Announcing of legislation intended to be introduced in Senate
23. The Prime Minister or any Minister acting on his behalf shall at the commencement of each session and may from time to time during the course of any session of Parliament as circumstances may require, make known what bills are to be introduced in the Senate during that session.
Qualifications of senators
24. No person shall be qualified to be a senator under this Constitution unless —
(a) he is a citizen of _____;
(b) he has attained the age of 30 years;
(c) he is qualified for registration as a voter for the purposes of the election of members of the House of Assembly and is so registered; and
(d) he has been domiciled in _____ for a period of at least five years.
The Senate Legal Committee
25. (1) After a general election and as soon as practicable after the election of the President of the Senate in terms of section twenty-six and the election of the Deputy President of the Senate in terms of section twenty-eight the President of the Senate shall, subject to the provisions of this section, appoint a committee to be known as the Senate Legal Committee.
(2) The Senate Legal Committee shall consist of such number of senators as the President may determine and the President may, at any time after the appointment of the Senate Legal Committee, direct that the membership thereof shall be increased or decreased, as the case may be, by such number as he may specify:
Provided that at no time shall the Senate Legal Committee consist of less than three members.
(3) A majority of the members of the Senate Legal Committee shall consist of persons holding such legal qualifications as may be prescribed by a law of the Legislature for the purposes of this section.
President of the Senate
26. (1) The Senate shall, before proceeding to the dispatch of any other business, choose a senator to be the President of the Senate, and as often as the office of President becomes vacant the Senate shall again choose a senator to be the President.
(2) The President of the Senate may at any time resign his office either by announcing his resignation in person to the Senate or by notice in writing to the Secretary to Parliament.
(3) The President of the Senate shall vacate his office ―
(a) if he becomes a Minister or a Deputy Minister; or
(b) if he is elected as a member of the House of Assembly; or
(c) if he ceases to be a senator.
(4) The office of the President of the Senate shall become vacant if the Senate, by an affirmative vote of not less than two-thirds of the total membership of the Senate, resolves that the office of the President of the Senate shall become vacant.
Deputy President of the Senate
27. Prior to or during any absence of the President of the Senate the Senate may choose a senator to perform his duties in his absence.
PART III
THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY
Constitution of House of Assembly
28. The House of Assembly shall be composed of ―
(a) seventy-two members, each of whom shall be directly elected by the persons entitled to vote at an election of such a member in an electoral division delimited as provided in section thirty-one;
(b) twenty-four specially elected members elected in accordance with the provisions of section thirty-four; and
(c) the Attorney-General.
Elections
29. At any general election of members of the House of Assembly under this Constitution, all polls shall be taken on one and the same day in all the electoral divisions throughout _____, such day to be appointed by the President.
Delimitation of electoral divisions
30. (1) At intervals of not less than five years and not more than ten years, the President shall appoint a delimitation commission consisting of three judges of the High Court of _____, which shall divide each province into so many electoral divisions that their number bears, as nearly as possible, the same ratio to one seventy-two as, in terms of the current voters’ lists, duly corrected up to the latest possible date, the number of voters in that province bears to the total number of voters in _____.
(2) In dividing a province into electoral divisions in terms of sub-section (1) the said commission shall act in accordance with the provisions of section thirty-one.
Method of dividing provinces into electoral divisions
31. (1) For the purposes of any division of the provinces into electoral divisions, the quota of each province shall be obtained by dividing the total number of voters in the province as ascertained from an examination of the current voters’ lists by the number of members of the House of Assembly to be elected therein.
(2) Each province shall be divided into electoral divisions in such a manner that each such division shall, subject to the provisions of subsection (3), contain a number of voters as nearly as may be equal to the quota of the province.
(3) The delimitation commission shall give due consideration to ―
(a) community or diversity of interests;
(b) means of communication;
(c) physical features;
(d) boundaries of existing electoral divisions;
(e) sparsity or density of population,
in such manner that, while taking the quota of voters as the basis of division, the commission may depart therefrom whenever it is deemed necessary, but in no case to any greater extent than fifteen per cent more or fifteen per cent less than the quota.
Powers and duties of commission for delimiting electoral divisions
32. (1) A commission constituted under the provisions of section thirty shall submit to the President ―
(a) a list of electoral divisions, with the names given to them by the commission and a description of the boundaries of every such division;
(b) a map or maps showing the electoral divisions into which the provinces have been divided;
(c) such further particulars as it considers necessary.
(2) The President may refer to the commission for its consideration all matters relating to such list or arising out of the powers or duties of the commission.
(3) The President shall by proclamation in the Gazette make known the names and boundaries of the electoral divisions as finally settled and certified by the commission, or a majority thereof, and thereafter, until there shall be a re-division, the electoral divisions as named and defined shall be the electoral divisions of _____ in the provinces.
(4) If any discrepancy arises between the description of the divisions and the aforesaid map or maps, the description shall prevail.
Date from which alteration of electoral divisons takes effect
33. Any alteration in the number of members of the House of Assembly to be elected in the several provinces, and any re-division of the provinces into electoral divisions, shall, in respect of the election of members of the House of Assembly, come into operation at the next general election held after the completion of the re-division or of any allocation consequent upon such alteration, and not earlier.
Specially elected members
34. (1) For the purpose of filling the twenty-four seats in the House of Assembly referred to in paragraph (b) of section twenty-eight, the total number of votes cast in a general election for these seats shall be divided by twenty-four and the result shall constitute the quota of votes per seat.
(2) The total number of votes cast in favor of a registered political party which offers itself for this purpose shall be divided by the quota of votes per seat and the result shall, subject to subsection (3), constitute the number of seats to which that political party shall be entitled in the House of Assembly.
(3) Where the formula set out in subsection (2) yields a surplus fraction not absorbed by the number of seats allocated to the political party concerned, such surplus shall compete with other similar surpluses accruing to any other political party or parties participating in the election, and any undistributed seat or seats (in terms of the formula set out in subsection (2)) shall be awarded to the party or parties concerned in sequence of the highest surplus.
(4) Subject to the requirements pertaining to the qualification of members of the House of Assembly, a political party which qualifies for seats in terms of subsections (2) and (3) shall be free to choose in its own discretion which persons to nominate as members of the House of Assembly to fill the said seats.
(5) Provision shall be made by Act of Parliament for all parties participating in an election of members of the House of Assembly to be represented at all material stages of the election process and to be afforded a reasonable opportunity for scrutinizing the counting of the votes cast in such election.
