Constitutional review enhancement to governance, democracy
DAYS ago, President John Dramani Mahama inaugurated an eight-member Constitutional Review Committee with a charge to them to engage widely with the citizenry in their work.
It must be noted that countries which practise democracy do so with the aid of a constitution, which calls for review to meet the exigencies of the times.
Currently, the country is still using its 1992 Constitution and some people think some of its provisions must be reviewed and even expunged.
For instance, majority of even the unlettered section of the society want Article 71 of the present constitution expunged from it.
Their contention is that even though they agree that public officials must be remunerated, the emoluments and privileges given to the officials captured under Article 71 are outrageous.
President Mahama himself has raised issues with Article 71.
He is on record as saying in March 2023 that upon his return to power as President, in 2025, he would set up a committee to review Article 71 with the aim of scrapping it, adding that ex-gratia paid to public sector workers and civil servants would suffer the same fate.
Now that he started implementing his campaign promises such as running a lean government with 60 ministers, everything indicates that his setting up a committee to review the 1992 Constitution cannot be taken for a mere propaganda gimmick.
The President is serious and so those of us working on The Ghanaian Times hope everyone or group he assigns any duty must discharge it in line with his high level of seriousness.
Therefore, we humbly ask the Constitutional Review Committee to adhere to the President’s charge of doing broad engagement for all the benefits.
We recall the setting up of a Presidential Commission of Inquiry in January 2010 to consult with the people of Ghana on the operation of the 1992 Constitution and on any changes that needed to be effected in it and present a draft bill for the amendment of the Constitution in the event that any changes were warranted.
President Mahama was then the Vice to President John Evans Atta-Mills, who set up the commission, and must be privy to the level engagement then, high or low, and so it can be gleaned from his charge to the current Committee that he is passionate about a high level of engagement.
It is worthy to take note of a remark regarding the broad engagement, a passionate appeal which he made to the committee to the committee members: “Your diverse perspectives will enrich this process and I urge you to engage widely with citizens from all walks of life in this process. This constitution must belong to all of us. It must inspire trust, it must unite us and it must provide the framework for a more just, inclusive and prosperous Ghana.”
President Mahama has said it all.
Discharging the task within six months and presenting its report will be onerous for the Committee, as the task is not targeted at only one item like Article 71 but reviewing the relevance of all the provisions of the Constitution and even going to the extent of assessing if there is the need to introduce new provisions to capture exigencies of the moment.
However, The Ghanaian Times believes that the Committee members would pass the test and leave a legacy of their contribution to effective governance, rule of law and democracy in the country