A Professor at the University of Ghana, Ransford Gyampo has disagreed with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo that the 1992 Constitution has served Ghana well.
In the view of Prof Gyampo, the 1992 Constitution has not served well because it gives too much power to the executive arm of government, making checks and balances difficult.
Contributing to a discussion on the State of the Nation Address delivered by President Akufo-Addo in Parliament on Tuesday, February 27, Prof Gyampo said on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday, March 2 that “Anybody who says the Constitution has served us well, fundamentally, does not even understand the principles and dogmas of constitutionalism.
“With the greatest of respect to President Akufo-Addo, when the 1992 Constitution was being reviewed, you were consulted by the Constitutional Review Commission and because I played a role behind the scenes we knew the comments that you proffered. It is becoming one too many that when people are in opposition they say one thing and when they are in government and power is sweet, they also change their tune.
The Constitution was not fashioned or prepared to promote constitutionalism. Jerry Rawlings had ruled Ghana for close to 20 years, he openly said he was not a fan of multiparty democracy but it got to a time when pressure from the international community, and pressures from pro-democracy forces said he had to democratize.
“Rawlings was forced to democratize, retired from the military, and to supervise an election in which he himself was the referee, the footballer, the linesman, and the match commissioner. Those preparing the constitution for him told him ‘Mr Rawlings we are preparing the constitution that would make you govern as if you are in the military era, that is how come the constitution grants all powers to the executive. When we talk about constitutionalism, we are talking of the putting in place of mechanisms that check the exercise of powers, the 1992 Constitution does not promote constitutionalism because it rather expands the frontiers of powers to the executive arm of government, and which makes the president a political King Kong.”
President Akufo-Addo had said that despite the flaws and calls for the amendment of portions of the constitution to meet the recent demands of the population, it must be acknowledged that it has provided the country with better advantages and put an end to the previous years of coup d’état.
Delivering SONA, President Akufo-Addo said that considering the previous violence and the state of unrest citizens had to endure before the introduction of democracy, it must be acknowledged that the country is better off than it was 32 years ago.
“Mr Speaker, we in Ghana have had our fair share of political instability and experimentation about how we should govern ourselves. There might be new names being ascribed to some of the supposed new ideas being canvassed by some today, but I daresay, on close examination, we would discover they are not new, we have tried them here, and they have failed. We know about all-powerful, cannot-be-questioned Messiahs, we know about liberators, and we know about redeemers and deities in military uniform.
“It might sound new to some, but those of us who have been around for a while have heard the argument made passionately that democracy was not a suitable form of Government if we wanted rapid development. It is a tired argument that was regularly used by coup d’etat apologists.
“It is also not new to have political parties and politics, in general, being denigrated, indeed, there used to be national campaigns of fear waged against politics and political parties. It took time and it took long battles, but, in the end, a consensus did emerge, and we opted for a multi-party democratic form of Government under the Constitution, which ushered in the Fourth Republic.
“Mr Speaker, it is not a perfect document, Constitutions do not ever pretend to be; but it has served us well these past thirty-two (32) years, considering where we have come from. It is a sacred document that should not be tampered with lightly, but, I hasten to add, our Constitution did not descend from heaven, we, Ghanaians, drew it up to serve our needs, and we can amend it to suit our changing needs and circumstances,” he said.