Section 66: Junior Ministers

66. Junior Ministers (1) Subject to this section, the President, acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister, may appoint Junior Ministers from among the members of the Assembly to assist Ministers in the performance of their duties. (2) The number of Junior Ministers shall not exceed 10. (3) Where occasion arises for making appointments while the Assembly is dissolved, a person who was a member of the Assembly immediately before the dissolution may be appointed as a Junior Minister. (4) The office of a Junior Minister shall become vacant— (a) where the President, acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister, so directs; CON – 49 [Issue 1] The Constitution (b) where the Prime Minister resigns from office within 3 days after the passage by the Assembly of a resolution of no confidence in the Government or is removed from office under section 60 (1) or (2); (c) upon the appointment of a person to the office of Prime Minister; (d) where the holder of the office ceases to be a member of the Assembly otherwise than by reason of a dissolution of Parliament; or (e) where at the first sitting of the Assembly after any election, the holder of the office is not a member of the Assembly. (5) Where for any period a Junior Minister is unable by reason of section 36 (1) to perform his functions as a member of the Assembly, he shall not during that period perform any of his functions as a Junior Minister. [S. 66 amended by Act 3 of 1996.]