By Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Abbey-Quaye
In January 2010, Ghana’s late President, Prof. John Evans Atta Mills (God rest his soul), initiated a process to have the 1992 Constitution of Ghana reviewed with the aim that a new Constitution would serve the contemporary political and socio-economic needs of Ghana better and reflect the political and democratic maturity of the country.
Towards this end, a 13-member Constitution Review Commission (CRC) was constituted under the chairmanship of Emeritus Prof. Albert Kudjoe Fiadjoe, with a three-pronged mandate, namely, to ascertain from the people of Ghana their views on the 1992 Constitution and help identify the strengths and weaknesses of the Constitution; to articulate the concerns of the people of Ghana as regards the amendments that may be required for a comprehensive review of the 1992 Constitution; and to make recommendations to the Government for consideration and provide a draft bill for possible amendments of the 1992 Constitution.
The move was warmly appreciated and welcomed by all Ghanaians, both home and abroad. Ghanaians at home, for example, showed an overwhelming support for and an amazing interest in the review exercise by the responses they gave to the town hall meetings organized by the Prof. Kudjoe Fiadjoe Commission as well as the useful contributions and recommendations they made to the Commission through written submissions, text messages and phone calls.
At the end of their consultations with the broad spectrum of the Ghanaian populace on the exercise, the Review Commission worked hard to put together the views, suggestions, recommendations and proposals they received into a framework document which they titled, Report of the Constitution Review Commission: From A Political to A Developmental Constitution. The Commission officially handed over this document to our late President in December 2011, at the Christiansburg Castle, Osu, the then seat of Government.
When the unfortunate demise of the late President happened and former President John D. Mahama assumed office as President, he took steps to continue the process. He formed the Constitution Review Implementation Committee (CRIC), chaired by Prof. E. V. O. Dankwah, to oversee the implementation of the revised Constitution. Some progress was made by the Committee about its mandate.
Along the line, a Government White Paper was issued by the erstwhile NDC Government on the document. Unfortunately, after that time, the exercise got stalled following a series of court cases brought against the process and procedures leaving the entire exercise in limbo as at now and the whole country the poorer for it.
It has been the hope and expectation of all Ghanaians and rightly so that the proposed revised Constitution document would serve as a blueprint for the consolidation of democratic rule and governance in Ghana and the roadmap for the nation’s envisaged accelerated socio-economic development. But it is sad to note today that the review process which received such massive support and endorsement of the Ghanaian citizenry has not yet been brought to its logical conclusion, with majority of Ghanaians left in the dark with regard to the state of the exercise and the way forward. The need for the current government to bring some light and clarity to bear on this important national exercise cannot be gainsaid.
Fortunately, there are indications that the Government intends to follow through with the process. The sitting President has acknowledged the importance of the Constitution review exercise and the need to pursue it vigorously to make it see the light of day. In his Inaugural Address on January 7, 2017, the President said, We have worked with our national constitution for 24 years and we now know the areas that require change. I believe a consensus is emerging that we must decentralize more. We must devolve more power with corresponding resources to the base of our political system and to our people in the regions and the communities. We must trust the individual and collective wisdom and sense of our people.
