Ghana's Constitution is unique - Mahama

Mr John Mahama, Member of Parliament (MP) for Bole on Monday lauded the framers of the 1992 Constitution describing it as unique and a model for several African countries.

He said the hybrid of the presidential and parliamentary systems of government made it very rigid and cumbersome to amendments but yet flexible enough for democratic governance.

Mr Mahama was speaking at the first of a series of lectures to mark the 25th annual week celebration of the Political Science Students Association (POSSA) under the theme: "The consolidation of democracy in Ghana in the 21st century, the role of civil society groups, individuals and the executive."

He explained that the 1979 Constitution adhered to strict separation of powers between the executive arm of government and the legislature, which demanded that any Member of Parliament given ministerial appointment must resign from Parliament.

However, the 1992 Constitution adopted the hybrid system to help enrich the work of Parliament. He said in theory, it seems practicable and laudable but in practice it was very difficult combining the work of Parliament, ministerial post and the constituency.

Mr Mahama called for a second look at the theory as most of the time the work at the House had suffered. He said the Constitution had become a reference point to several African countries in the development of their constitution, while others used it to tighten the loopholes identified in their constitutions.

He stated that if governments especially the executive would adhere to provisions under the Directive Principles of State Policies, the checks and balances among other things, democracy would be consolidated in the country.

Mr Mahama said, even though, the four-year term of office of a government was considered by some political analysts as tolerantly short in terms of developmental programmes, it sought to reduce the level of agitation in terms of democratic governance.

Mr Mahama described the notion that the minority had been whipping on infractions to divert government's concentration as unfortunate, explaining that the Constitution mandated the minority to raise red flags even on what people might consider irrelevant.

He said; "if minor infractions are not checked, it would lead to major abuses of the rule of law and endanger good governance as well as the consolidation of democratic rule in the country".

Mr Mahama urged government to ensure the integration of all ethnic groupings in the country, promote political tolerance and the fertilisation of shades of opinion for good governance.

The former Minister of Communications expressed concerned about the intolerance of some members of government, saying; "in government your best friends are those who criticise you and not those who sing your praises".

Mr Mahama also called for a fair distribution of national resources; creation of an environment for expansion of employment avenues and decried the concentration of development in the "Golden Tri-angle" of Accra-Kumasi-Cape Coast/Takoradi.

He said this had been responsible for the rural/urban drift. Mr Balley Harrison, POSSA President, appealed to past students of the Department of Political Science to assist with the development of the faculty.

He said the department had not seen any major development for a long time leading to the deterioration of facilities, whiles the large student population put extra burden on the facilities.