Gov’t urged to publish full report of Constitution Review Commission for ‘informed debate’

The National Constitutional Reform Coalition (NCRC) has appealed to the Government to publish the full report of the Constitution Review Commission (CRC) in the shortest possible time to facilitate informed national debate.

It reminded government that in the interest of transparency and good governance, it was obligated by the 1992 Constitution to publish the full report of the CRC, in addition to the white paper it had already published.

A statement issued by the National Secretariat of the Coalition copied to Ghana News Agency in Accra, on Tuesday, indicated that in January 2010, the Government fulfilled one of its election promises by establishing the CRC to, “Make recommendations to the Government for consideration and provide a draft Bill for possible amendment to the 1992 Constitution”.

It said several civil society organisations and government agencies made submissions to the CRC on matters ranging from human rights to public financial management.

“Accordingly, President John Evans Atta Mills indicated that the proposals of the CRC would be made public shortly after submission of the report,” the statement added.

At the end of its two-year mandate, hundreds of Ghanaians attended the national conference organised by the CRC, thousands attended the public hearing throughout Ghana, and about 80,000 submissions were received from the general public.

The NCRC pointed out that although the CRC submitted its final report to President Mills on December 20, 2011, the Government had only published a white paper on the report, but the information itself had not been published.

The Coalition is an association set up under the sponsorship of the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) to seek public input into the CRC, to facilitate informed public debate, discussion and analysis.

Source: GNA