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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 State 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 ―

(a) ten senators nominated by the President of whom two shall be nominated from each province; and

(b) so many senators, but not less than six, in the case of each province as are equal to one-tenth of the number of the electoral divisions into which that province has at the last delimitation under this Constitution, for the election of members of the House of Assembly been divided, together with the electoral divisions into which that province has been so divided for the election of provincial councillors.

(2) Where in the case of any province the figure to be divided by ten for the purpose of determining the number of senators to be elected in respect of that province in terms of paragraph (b) of subsection (1) is not a multiple of ten, that figure shall for the said purpose be assumed to be the lowest multiple of ten above the said figure.

(3) The senators referred to in paragraph (b) of subsection (1) shall in the case of each province be elected jointly by the sitting members of the House of Assembly and provincial councillors for that province.

Nominated senators

18. (1) The senators nominated by the President in terms of paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section seventeen shall, subject to the provisions of section _____, hold their seats for five years.

(2) If the seat of a senator so nominated becomes vacant, the President shall nominate another person to hold the seat until the completion of the period for which the person in whose stead he is nominated, would have held the seat.

Elected senators

19. (1) The senators elected under subsection (3) of section seventeen shall hold their seats for five years unless the Senate be sooner dissolved.

(2) If the seat of an elected senator becomes vacant, the sitting members of the House of Assembly and the provincial councillors for the province concerned, shall elect a person to hold the seat until the completion of the period for which the person in whose stead he is elected, would have held the seat.

(3) The election of senators shall take place according to the principle of proportional representation, each voter having one transferable vote.

(4) The President may make regulations in regard to the election of senators under this Constitution, including regulations prescribing the method of voting and of transferring and counting votes and the duties of returning officers in connection with such elections.

Standing committees of Senate

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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

23. (1) After a general election and as soon as practicable after the election of the President of the Senate in terms of section twenty-four and the election of the Deputy President of the Senate in terms of section twenty-six 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.

Election of President of Senate

24. (1) At such time on such day as may be fixed by the Secretary to Parliament, being a day not later than the day fixed in terms of section _____ for the first meeting of Parliament after a general election, and, before the Senate proceeds to the dispatch of other business, the Senate shall elect a person to be the President of the Senate and, whenever the office of the President of the Senate becomes vacant otherwise than by reason of the dissolution of Parliament, the Senate shall not transact any other business until a person to fill that office has been elected.

(2) The President of the Senate shall be elected in accordance with the Standing Orders, either from among the members of the Senate or the House of Assembly who are neither Ministers nor Deputy Ministers, or from among persons who are not members of the Senate or the House of Assembly:

Provided that a person who is not a member of the Senate shall not be elected President of the Senate unless he possesses the qualifications and none of the disqualifications for election as a senator.

(3) Before a person who has been elected as President of the Senate enters upon the duties of his office he shall, unless he has already done so in accordance with the provisions of section _____, take and subscribe before the Senate such oaths as may be prescribed by the Legislature.

Tenure of office of President of the Senate

25.