Current Constitution Doesn’t Meet Needs Of Ghanaians – Agyemang-Duah

A governance expert, Professor Baffuor Agyemang-Duah, has pointed out why the current Constitution does not fully serve the interest of Ghanaians.

According to him, the current Supreme law of the land concentrates power in the political class instead of vesting these powers in the people.

His comments were captured on TV3’s major news bulletin on Thursday, April 28, hours after President Akufo-Addo had delivered his address on the 30th anniversary of the referendum that births the Fourth Republic.

”In my humble opinion [the Constitution] does not meet the needs of the people,” the one-time Senior United Nations Nations official stressed.

He explained further: “For a constitution to meet the basic needs of the people that constitution should be seen in action at the grassroots level. Democracy is best when it emerges from the bottom to the top. What we have today, is a democracy that is literally a top-down democracy.”

President Akufo-Addo in the address raised a number of issues, one of which was the need t amend the Constitution if need be.

He explained that Constitutions are living documents that needed to be amended to reflect contemporary realities, admonishing the citizenry to reject people who call for coups.

What Akufo-Addo said:

“The Constitution is a living document and so whenever circumstances require, we should be prepared to make the necessary amendments to affect the needs of contemporary and future times.

“Several attempts to take Ghana down the path of multiparty democracy were met with stiff opposition and cynical response. They will rather have authoritarian rule foisted on the citizens claiming Ghana was underdeveloped and we needed to get things done in a hurry.

“They claimed that democracy was cumbersome and will divide Ghanaians along tribal lines. However, the word was widespread and unanimous to have a decade-long ban on party-political activities imposed in 1981 lifted and the return to multiparty democracy established. The Ghanaian people wanted a living condition of freedom where there was respect for individual liberty.”

He added: “Simply because they have no respect for the Ghanaian people, they are either unwilling to subject themselves to the open scrutiny of the Ghanaian people or because they know that that they will be rejected by the Ghanaian people.

“Thus, seeking a shortcut to office in power. Let us resist such persons for our common good.”
source:peacefmonline.com