Reprsentatives of five political parties have reiterated the need to amend certain aspects of the 1992 Constitution in order to meet the demands of the changing times.
They were the former chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Peter Mac Manu, Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi, and the General Secretary of the People’s National Convention (PNC), Janet Nabla.
The others were the General Secretary of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Nana Yaa Jantuah and the National Secretary of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), Remy Edmundson.
Speaking at a weekly constitutional review seminar organised by theInstitute of Economic Affairs (IEA) on Friday, the representatives of the political parties touched on the powers of the President to appoint ministers from Parliament, and heads of other state institutions such as Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs), judicial appointments, and other related constitutional provisions.
Mr Gyamfi in his submission noted that the NDC under the late former President, Professor Atta Mills, established a Constitutional Review Commission in 2010, which came up with recommendations, but were yet to be implemented.
According to him, the only way political parties could aid in the amendment of the Constitution was through consensus building, which was the reason behind the failure of the implementation of the recommendations contained in the Constitutional Review Commission’s report in 2010.
Mr Mac Manu, noted that there was the need to remove the strings in the Constitution that restricted political parties from actively participating in district level elections as seen in other African countries to help shape the political will of the citizenry.
Ms Jantuah advocated a cap to be placed on the number of appointments the President had to make into various public offices such as the EC, as a way of limiting his powers, review and have another look at the powers put in the hands of the President regarding appointments because the phenomenon breeds a lot of
interference which was not healthy for governance structure.
Mr Edmundson reiterated the need to elect MMDCEs, prohibit the appointment of Members of Parliament (MPs) as ministers of state, strengthen Office of the Attorney-General by separating it from the Ministry of Justice, introduce public declaration of assets regime and clarify the eligibility of Ghanaians in the diaspora to hold public office.
Ms Nabla called for the abolishment of the four-year review of the ex-gratia and the application of the single-spine salary structure to all politicians adding that “when we make politics unattractive, those who don’t care for humanity will run away and only those who have the interest of championing the affairs of the country will come out to serve”.
BY BENJAMIN ARCTON-TETTEY
