Professor Baffour Agyeman-Duah, a former senior governance advisor for the United Nations, has renewed calls for the 1992 Constitution to be amended, particularly the provisions that grant the President the authority to appoint as many ministers as they choose.
He asserted that such a change was necessary to assist restrict the number of ministries and ministers that the current president may appoint.
His request follows previous requests by a segment of the populace for President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to scale back his administration, particularly in light of the nation’s current economic challenges.
Numerous people and organizations, including civil society organizations, social and political critics, and religious leaders, have increased their demands recently for the immediate modification of certain parts of the Constitution.
In his comments on Ghana’s political predicament, Prof. Agyeman-Duah suggested that it was time for the nation to revisit its Constitution and make the necessary changes to it in order to keep up with the needs of the country’s ongoing progress.
Although the Constitution had served the nation well over the previous 30 years, he asserted that several of its provisions no longer served that purpose and needed to be changed in order to help meet the country’s current development shortfall.
The former senior governance advisor for the United Nations also emphasized the importance of strong procedures to hold people accountable for their acts, saying that democracies could only flourish in countries with stringent legal enforcement.
“Democracy in the western world has been working only because there is strict enforcement of the law. It tells you that system is very important, and I think for many years we have failed in putting in place a system that works, and our own character turns to undermine the enforcement,” he said.
Prof. Agyeman-Duah urged Ghanaians to modify their character so they can make important contributions to the nation’s growth.
According to him, Ghanaians had become “morally bankrupt” which he said did not auger well for building strong systems.
“Ghanaians who in this country misbehave and mismanage, if you send people abroad, their behaviour and everything is absolutely different, I have observed in many of my travels at the airports in Europe and America, Ghanaians are orderly, patient, waiting to be checked in.
“The same Ghanaian arrives at the Accra airport, and the behaviour is completely different. So, we are creating a system that does not enforce the laws or the rules or regulations,” he bemoaned.
The University of Ghana Law School’s Visiting Scholar Benjamin Kumbuor emphasized the necessity for the nation to reexamine the financing of political parties.
He believed that political parties had turned into havens for corruption and that if nothing was done to stop it, it would only grow worse.
The ex-lawmaker urged Ghanaians to hold their leaders accountable when they fall short and to demand more from them.
