Review 1992 Constitution - Meissner
Accra, June 15, Ghanadot/GNA -
Even though Ghana’s present democracy owes its strength to
the 1992 Constitution, it needs to be reviewed to deepen the
democratic understanding and identification in the society.
Miss Kathrin Meissner, Resident Director of
Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), a German political
foundation FES, who made the call, said “Reviewing the
Constitution is a great opportunity to create and affirm the
consensus for the country’s political system”.
She was speaking at a public lecture,
organised by the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (GAAS)
in collaboration with Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), a
German political foundation, on challenges identified in
operating the 1992 Constitution in Ghana, under the theme:
“Constitutional Review in Ghana”, in Accra on Monday.
Miss Meissner expressed regret that in many
countries the constitution had been formally formulated
merely on paper but the situation on the ground did not
reflect the reality of its adherence.
Speaking on the topic “Challenges Identified
in Operating the 1992 Constitution,” Prof. Samuel O. Gyandoh
of the Temple University in Philadelphia, USA, described a
constitution as a living organism that must grow with the
times and like human conditions there was more room for
improvement.
“We can adapt the constitution to changing
times by timely amendments and judicial interpretations,” he
said.
Prof. Gyandoh said compared with the previous
constitutions of Ghana, the 1992 Constitution was unique in
terms of the structure of government machinery that it has
created.
He mentioned the Independence Constitution of
1957, First Republican Constitution of 1960, the Second
Republican Constitution of 1969, and the Third Republican
Constitution of 1979 as constitutions that preceded the 1992
Constitution.
Prof. Gyandoh noted that the 1979
constitution separated the Executive, Legislative and
Judiciary, and provided a flexible system of checks and
balances.
He said the 1979 Constitution, however,
abandoned the “unstable cabinet system of government under
which the idea of ministerial responsibility to parliament
was subjected to national election.”
Comparing the 1992 Constitution with the 1979
Constitution in terms of Executive Presidency and
Parliamentary Governance, Prof.
Gyandoh noted that while the 1979
Constitution required a Member of Parliament nominated for
ministerial appointment by the President to resign from
Parliament, the 1992 Constitution provided that the majority
of ministers of state should be appointed from Parliament.
“This unnecessarily weakens Parliament while correspondingly
creating what looks like an imperial Presidency,” he
lamented.
Prof. Gyandoh said the provision had skewed
the architecture of the Constitution but he expressed the
hope that it could be easily corrected by restoring balance
and proportions to the 1992 Constitution.
He suggested that “We can simply remove
Article 78(1) from the Constitution and then take care of
any consequential refinement of the text to conform to the
excision”.
Prof. Mike Oquaye, Second Deputy Speaker of
Parliament, said there was the need for the 1992
Constitution to lay foundation for affirmative action to
provide appreciable quotas for women in areas such as
education, public life and political representation.
He said “Some wrong has been done to females
from childhood to adulthood for so long that the fundamental
law should provide a sound basis for action”.
Prof. Oquaye called for the extension of
maternal leave from three months to six months to enable
mothers adequately care for their babies.
On the issue of transition from one
government to another and end of service benefits, he
recommended “tight provisions” to be made in the
Constitution streamlining all entitlements with the wisdom
of hindsight.
Prof. Mike Oquaye said “One clear provision should be made,
that is, no public or civil servant or minister should be
entitled to purchase a duty post vehicle in the future under
any circumstances”.
He also noted that the constitutional
position of the Electoral Commission relating to its being
answerable to the courts for its work was problematic.
“The ambiguity, if any, should be removed on
the occasion of constitutional reform before it rocks the
Republic in future, as it nearly did early 2009,” Prof. Mike
Oquaye said.
The three-day public lecture was to mark the
50th Anniversary of GAAS and the 40th for FES.
GNA
