Officers not following the due legal process

12 September 2020 12:09 am

• Knowledge of the law in relation to subjects coming under the  purview of various officials, be they be attached to the Government,  Provincial Administration or even the Local Government administration is  much to be desired
• The Governor of a certain Province had appointed a retired Judicial  Officer to inquire into the activities of a Mayor of a Municipal Council  in that province and thereafter he proceeded on the very same day to  suspend the respective Mayor. On the face of the information provided  via the media to the public which also included the display of the  respective Gazette notifications, one could easily come to the  conclusion that this course of action of the respective Governor is  proceedurely correct and valid in law 

 

Ignorance of the law is no excuse. It must be stated at the outset of this article, that the knowledge of the law in relation to subjects coming under the purview of various officials, be they be attached to the Government, Provincial Administration or even the Local Government administration is much to be desired. If the position of the officials is such then one can imagine as to what would be the position in relation to elected representatives.  

The other aspect is the shortcomings that we have observed in certain Acts, the incorrect language used in relation to statutes passed by various provincial councils, thereby giving a distorted version of the law. The situation according to me has reached certain levels where I feel an expert committee needs to look into various shortcomings.  

I am compelled to make this specific observation because we have seen so many shortcomings in relation to promulgation of laws, Acts and Statutes.  

A couple of days back the electronic media reported that the Governor of a certain Province had appointed a retired Judicial Officer to inquire into the activities of a Mayor of a Municipal Council in that province and thereafter he proceeded on the very same day to suspend the respective Mayor. On the face of the information provided via the media to the public which also included the display of the respective Gazette notifications, one could easily come to the conclusion that this course of action of the respective Governor is proceedurely correct and valid in law.  

But however when analysing the respective actions of the Governor it becomes abundantly clear that the Governor has taken refuge under certain provisions of the Municipal Council Ordinance and not the Legitimate Statute passed by the said Provincial Council. I will first deal with the contents of the gazette notifications published.  

The gazette notification in relation to the suspension of the respective Mayor by the respective Governor of the said province is as follows:  

“Order made under clause 2 of the Provincial Councils (Consequential Powers) Act 12 of 1989 to be read in conjunction with Sc 277 (1b) (a) ( i ) of the Municipal Councils Ordinance.  
By virtue of the powers vested in me under clause 2 of the Provincial Councils (Consequential Provisions) Act no 12 of 1989 to be read in conjunction with the Sc 277 (1b) (a) (i) of the Municipal Councils ordinance, I Governor of the said Province hereby suspend the Mayor with immediate effect.”  

When one peruses the main contents of the notification it is very clear that he has failed to assign reasons for the suspension, that is prima facie, and moreover he has failed to state whether the respective Mayor was afforded an opportunity to be heard, in the absence of these valid phrases that should have been part and parcel of the said notification, I am of the view that this suspension is flawed because the Governor has failed to follow the principles of natural justice.  

Now I will focus my attention on the next aspect, that this order of the respective Governor which is published in the gazette in suspending the respective Mayor is flawed.  
The Central Provincial Council passed a statute titled Powers of Supervision of the Administration of Local Authorities No 07 of 1990 which was published in the Gazette dated 28 August 1992 to give them powers as per the 9th schedule of the 13th amendment to the constitution. No sooner the respective Provincial Council passed the statute no. 7 of 1990 which is fundamentally for the supervision of Local Authorities in the respective province, the Governor needs to derive his power for the purported action from the said statute.  
I do not wish to elaborate on what action needs to be taken now, but it is very clear that the actions of the said Governor appears to be flawed.  Hence it is up to the higher authorities to intervene and ensure that sanity prevails.