The 1992 Constitution of Ghana which is currently in use in the country as the supreme law of the land was approved through a referendum held on April 28, 1992.
The massive approval for the Constitution on that day consequently ushered in our country’s 4th Republican political and democratic governance.
Through God’s blessings and help as well as the understanding and cooperation of all citizens, Ghana’s 4th Republican constitutional democracy has stood the test of time and proven to be the most enduring constitutional democracy in the country’s history having been in operation for close to thirty years now.
Within the last thirty years, Ghana has gone through eight successful and mostly peaceful elections and witnessed the successful change of Government on three historic occasions.
For many a Ghanaian, these events bear ample testimony to how far the country has come as an emerging stable, democratic country, providing inspiration of how democracy can be made to work for the rest of the countries in the West African sub-region and Africa as a whole where political instability, reckless changes to constitutions by incumbents to allow them to continue to stay in power and military take-overs are never rare occurrences.
Calls for Review and the Setting up of the Constitution Review Commission (CRC)
From the late 2000s, there were numerous calls by various individuals and groups for reviews, changes and amendments to be made to Ghana’s 1992 Constitution in order to further deepen and consolidate the country’s democratic gains to better reflect the aspirations of a modern-day democratic and prosperous Ghana. Since that time, these calls have never abated or been abandoned but have continued till today.
In more recent times, the calls for changes, reviews, and amendments to our country’s 1992 Constitution have been heightened following the spirited campaigns mounted by the leaders and followers of the Fix the Country Movement whose demands include among others a wholesale change to the current Constitution of Ghana.
Additionally, Dr. Abu Sakara Foster, a former presidential candidate of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), has also recently formed the National Interest Movement (NIM) to advocate the need for a new Constitution that will help neutralize or eliminate the duopoly of the two leading parties of Ghana, namely, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC), and also promote a system of governance that is participatory and inclusive of all citizens to set the nation on the path of true peace, development and progress.
Similarly, the main opposition NDC party has also recently called on the ruling NPP Government to initiate urgent processes to amend the current Constitution to reflect the recommendations made by the Constitution Review Commission almost ten years ago. Other groups and individuals have made similar calls in recent times.
I contend that these calls from various groups and individuals provide sufficient evidence to suggest that the agitations and calls for reviews and or changes to Ghana’s 1992 Constitution will continue unabated into the near future until some response is given to them.
It is worthy of note that in 2010, the late Prof. Evans Atta Mills, then President of the Republic, heeding the calls of many Ghanaians for a second look to be given to the country’s 1992 Constitution, set up a ten-member Constitution Review Commission (CRC) under the Constitution Review Commission of Inquiry Instrument 2010, C.I. 64, to carry out this work.
Chaired by Emeritus Prof. Albert Kodjoe Fiadjoe, the mandate of the Review Commission was three-fold. Firstly, to ascertain from the people of Ghana, their views on the operation of the 1992 Fourth Republican Constitution and in particular, the strengths and weaknesses of the Constitution.
Secondly, to articulate the concerns of the people of Ghana on amendments that may be required for a comprehensive review of the 1992 Constitution. Thirdly, to make recommendations to the Government for consideration and to provide a draft Bill for possible amendments to the 1992 Constitution.
In order to facilitate the work of the Commission, an initial amount of 2.7 million dollars ($2.7 million USD) was budgeted for this exercise, but at the end of the day, the total amount spent on the exercise was a whopping 6.3 million dollars ($6.3 million USD), that is, more than double the initial budgeted amount.
According to the Commission, the astronomical jump in the budget was as a result of various consultations with Ghanaian citizens in the diaspora and the need for enhanced logistics.
Be it as it may, in the course of their work, members of the Commission toured the entire country to listen to citizens’ views and concerns on the 1992 Constitution before spending a considerable amount of time to put their Final Report together.
In total, the Commission held 57 sessions in 170 Districts and received over 83,000 submissions. Additionally, it held various meetings with all the past Presidents of Ghana at the time, other statesmen and opinion leaders in the country and some Ghanaian citizens living outside the country.
On December 20, 2011, following the conclusion of their work, the Commission submitted its Final Report to President Evans Atta Mills at a short ceremony held at the Osu Castle. Titled, From a Political Constitution to a Developmental Constitution, the Commission’s Final Report of about 1000 pages contained in total 90 Recommendations on the 1992 Constitution for the consideration and implementation of the Government.
Among the recommendations, the most important ones included the recommendation for the election of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs); the recommendation for Members of Parliament not to double as Ministers but to carry out their core duty of legislating laws and keeping Governments in check; the recommendation for the decoupling of the office of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General, and the recommendation for legal backing for work of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) so that the latter could have a constitutional mandate to set forth developmental plans for the country and ensure that successive Governments follow them through.
While giving his brief remarks at the handing over ceremony, the Commission’s chair, Prof. Kodjoe Fiadjoe stated among others that the Government must share the full contents of the Report with the people of Ghana in its entirety because the Report contains the hopes and aspirations of the people of Ghana, even their fears and tribulations.
To all Ghanaians, Prof. Fiadjoe emphasized that, “This Report is yours; it is your intellectual property and carries your clear signature.
The lifeless words embedded in it represent your living in vibrantly expressed public wishes and desires. They also provide a reasonably safe and well-considered roadmap to your new vision of retrofitted constitutional architectural design which should guide Ghana’s future.” He added that, “Let no Government, State institution or political party deprive you of the fruits of your labour by taking these recommendations for granted.”
For most Ghanaians, but especially those who have had the privilege of reading the Final Report of the Commission’s work, there is no doubting the fact that the members of the Constitution Review Commission did an excellent job in accordance with their mandate and succeeded in capturing the aspirations and hopes of citizens in their final document.
Consequently, I think that each one of the Commission members deserves our deepest gratitude and commendations for their sacrifice, hardwork and dedicated service to Mother Ghana.
Beyond that, I also think that the greatest gratitude our country can pay to these gallant men and women of the Review Commission would be to ensure that their hardwork and sacrifice do not go to waste but is put to good use.
This is why I am proposing a return to the Commission’s work and a gradual but progressive review and implementation of some, if not all, the recommendations captured in their Final Report. As Prof. Fiadjoe indicated, it is the responsibility of all of us to ensure that Governments do not take our recommendations captured in the Commission’s Report for granted.
The Constitution Review and Implementation Committee (CRIC) and Matters Arising
It is important also to note that in June 2012, late President Prof. John Evans Atta Mills issued a Government White Paper to accept many, if not all, the recommendations of the Constitution Review Commission.
In October the same year, former President John D. Mahama who assumed the reins of government following the demise of President Atta Mills also set up a five-member Constitution Review and Implementation Committee (CRIC) led by Prof. EVO Dankwa to help implement the recommendations of the Constitution Review Commission in line with the Government’s White Paper.
However, a few months into the Commission’s work, Prof. Stephen Kweku Asare (popularly called Kweku Azar), a US-based Ghanaian lawyer, filed a motion at the Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of the work of the Implementation Committee and praying the court to halt its work and mandate the Parliament of Ghana to assume that role.
To deal with the afore-mentioned court case, the then Chief Justice, Mrs. Georgina Theodora Wood, empaneled seven Justices of the Supreme Court of Ghana presided over by herself. On October 14, 2015, the Supreme Court delivered its verdict and by a majority decision of 5 to 2, ruled that both the setting up of the Constitution Review Commission and the work of the Constitution Review and Implementation Committee to implement the recommendations of the former were constitutional.
It accordingly dismissed Prof. Kweku Asare’s motion, thereby paving the way for the implementation process of the reviewed Constitution to continue. Unfortunately, after the court’s ruling, the passion and enthusiasm with which the exercise had been moving forward seemed to have dissipated considerably. Consequently, nothing was said or heard about the review process even as all attention and focus shifted to the political campaigns for the December 2016 elections.
In the run-up to the December 2016 polls, the current President, Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo Addo, then leader of the opposition NPP, promised to continue with the processes for the implementation of the recommendations of the reviewed Constitution when elected.
Thus, among his many campaign promises, the sitting President said that he would push for the direct election of MMDCEs and also establish the Office of Special Prosecutor (OSP) in place of the decoupling of the office of the Minster of Justice and Attorney General when elected.
After winning the December 2016 elections and subsequently assuming the reins of Government in January 2017, the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) tried to implement some of the recommendations contained in the Final Report of the Review Commission. For example, in 2018, the President established the Office of the Special Prosecutor with the appointment of Mr. Martin Amidu as the first occupant of that office.
The latter resigned in November 2020 and has since been replaced by Mr. Kissi Agyebeng. Besides, processes for the election of MMDCEs were activated in 2019 and campaigns started across the country only to be aborted in December 2019 following the lack of support for it by the NDC party and other groups and individuals.
My theological view is that the above steps taken by the current Government towards the implementation of the recommendations of the reviewed Constitution are good efforts and important first steps.
Nonetheless, I also think that the Government’s piecemeal approach towards the entire Constitution review process will amount to very little if we continue to tread this path.
Therefore, I am in full support of the various groups and individuals who have suggested that a more holistic approach be adopted towards the implementation of the whole gamut of the recommendations captured in the Final Report of the Constitution Review Commission.
The Way Forward for the Constitution Review Process: My Theological Perspectives
In answer to the question of which way forward for the Constitution review exercise, I think first and foremost that after almost thirty years of Ghana’s Fourth Republican democratic experience, the time is more than ripe for us to take a second again at the current 1992 Constitution, to review it and make the necessary changes and amendments.
Fortunately for us, we have the Final Report of the Constitution Review Commission with us and so can revisit that document and decide on what we want to do with it.
We could not have spent a whopping 6 million dollars of Ghana’s money to review our current Constitution if we did not intend to do anything with it. That is why I consider the continuous failure of successive Governments to fully implement the contents of the Constitution Review Commission’s Final Report as totally unacceptable and objectionable.
This is also the reason why I endorse wholeheartedly both past and current ongoing calls for a second look at the work of the Review Commission. I contend that now is the right time to do the right thing by reactivating the right processes that will lead to the right implementation of the right recommendations contained in Commission’s Report. There is no more excuse for not doing so neither is there any more time to waste. The time is now.
Secondly, I also support the ongoing calls for changes, reviews and amendments to the current Constitution because as rightly articulated by several groups and individuals who are advocating a new Constitution, I believe that a new or reviewed Constitution is one of the surest ways through which our country can deal with the excessive and almost unfettered powers of the Executive.
The current Constitution and system of governance we are running in Ghana gives the Executive President too much power to take too many decisions and make too many appointments to too many positions. For example, the President appoints Ministers and their Deputies, MMDCEs, Members of the Boards of State institutions and top positions in the security services, CHRAJ, NCCE, EC, among others.
These powers of appointment make it very lucrative for incumbents and prospective presidential candidates to do anything and everything either to hold on to power or obtain power, thereby increasing the tensions, competitions and struggles for power in the country.
To rectify this, I contend that we need a revised Constitution, one that will make it possible to take some of these powers from the Executive and give it to independent State institutions whose members will advertise available State positions, vet prospective candidates and approve them for appointment.
I think that some system like this this will help lessen the pressure and burden on the President in making all these appointments and taking all these decisions. It will also help reduce the alarming tensions or struggles for power in the country.
Thirdly, methinks that we need a revised Constitution which will give full constitutional backing to the work of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) not only to come out with short to medium-term and long-term development plans for the country, but also to ensure that all political parties which win elections to govern the country will implement them.
The current situation where national development policies are conspicuously missing and replaced with party manifestoes is not correct. Experiences in the last thirty years or so show that the lifespans of these manifestos are short, lasting for at most eight years and being replaced by new manifestos. Besides that, we have already gotten to the point where promises, NOT policies, in these manifestos are becoming increasingly absurd with “free this” and “free that,” and with no clear sense of direction and focus.
We cannot continue to run Ghana’s maturing democracy on party manifestos. There is therefore the absolute need for a properly articulated national development plan managed by an NDPC which has teeth to bite if we aspire to move to the next level of progress. Party manifestos must take their inspiration from a national development plan and not the other way.
Conclusion
There is no doubt in my mind whatsoever that Ghana today needs to take a holistic review of its current Constitution.
Having operated the 1992 Constitution for close to 30 years, I believe that the time is more than ripe for the country to revisit both the spirit and letter of the Final Report produced by the Constitution Review Commission almost ten years ago to see what new changes, reviews and amendments to be made on that document and to set in motion the necessary processes for their implementation.
I am convinced beyond any reasonable doubt that there is the need for a new or reviewed Constitution for Ghana and that is I think that the current ongoing calls for changes, reviews and amendments to the 1992 Constitution are in the right direction and worthy of everyone’s support.
I believe that a new or revised Constitution will offer the best way forward for Ghana’s onward march to political, economic and social development and progress and maturing democratic practice.
