Ghana Constitution Review Commission receives 50,000 submissions

The Constitution Review Commission (CRC), on Monday said it had so far received 50,000 submissions from the public since it started work in April this year.

Professor Emeritus Albert K. Fiadjoe, CRC Chairman, identified the areas of the Constitution that had attracted most public attention as the review of the provisions of Chapter Eight to determine whether there should be a curtailment of the excessive powers of the Executive President.

Speaking at the two-day Greater Accra Regional Consultation meeting in Accra, Prof Fiadjoe outlined the final phase of the CRC consultation as the holding of mini consultations, engagement of prominent personalities who had work with the constitution and conducting follow-ups.

Other issues that have attracted attention are; a decoupling of the position of the Attorney General from that of the Minister of Justice, article 88; a review of the Constitutional injunction in article 78 (1) that majority of Ministers of State should come from Parliament and a review of article 78 (2), which does not place a ceiling on the number of Ministers a President may appoint.

The others are the absence of a ceiling on the number of judges that may be appointed to the Supreme Court and the Appeal Court under article 128 (1) and 136(1) (b); a reconsideration of applying the tenure of judges to the heads of the independent Constitutional bodies – Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, Electoral Commission and National Commission on Civic Education.

The rest are: Chieftaincy and Politics, Decentralization and election of Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Chief Executives, Human Rights and Spousal Rights.

Other major projects to embark on include holding of National Stakeholders forum, which would lead to the submission of the final report to the President in January 2011.

Prof Fiadjoe said the Commission had organised public hearings and mini consultations to assess the weaknesses and strengths of the 1992 Constitution for possible amendments.

He said after the hearings, the CRC is required to present a draft bill to government for possible amendments to the 1992 Constitution.

Prof. Fiadjoe explained that it was the mandate of the CRC to ensure that all Ghanaians irrespective of their tribe, political and religious inclinations were given the opportunity to interact with the CRC and to bring recommendations on the weaknesses and strengths of the 1992 Constitution.

He expressed appreciation to the people in the Greater Accra Region for demonstrating a high level of enthusiasm in the hearing process and expressed the optimism that the CRC would receive more submissions during the two-day programme.

The Greater Accra consultation was chaired by Nene Abram Akuaku III, President of the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs and Paramount Chief of the Ada Traditional Area.

Participants were from civil society organisations; academia, youth groups, gender activists, people living with disabilities, governance bodies, political party representatives, traditional rulers, media, religious groups and the general public.

Source: GNA