All presidents of the Fourth Republic except the late JEA Mills
Retired Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo has stated that she is disappointed in all governments under the Fourth Republic citing failure to make constitutionalism the bedrock of Ghana’s democracy.
In her opinion, the 1992 Constitution and how it was birthed should have given Ghana the perfect grounds to build successive governance architectures but that has not been the case.
Asked in an interview with Joy News (February 15) whether she was disappointed in the current New Patriotic Party (NPP) government, the former CJ said: “I have been disappointed with every single government we have had under this (1992) constitution…
“… because after all that we went through with the military and everything and we centered the constitution as guiding principle, at least constitutionalism should have been what should have been guiding us.
“But we have eroded so many standards, principles. It is not only the NPP government, a far as I am concerned, every government has failed us,” she emphasized.
She also told host of the Upfront programme that a constitutional review was long overdue, positing that it should have been implemented incrementally over the years to make it a stronger guiding document.
Evolution of Ghana’s Fourth Republic
President John Agyekum Kufuor completed his second term in office in 2009 having taken office in 2000 from late Jerry John Rawlings. It was Rawlings who kick started the Fourth Republic in 1993, serving two terms till 2001.
The election to replace Kufuor was a two-horse race between Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and late John Evans Atta-Mills. The latter contesting for the third consecutive time beat Akufo-Addo in a runoff vote.
Mills died while in office paving the way for his then Vice President John Dramani Mahama to become president. Mahama won the 2012 polls but lost his re-election bid to Akufo-Addo in 2016.
Akufo-Addo beat him in 2020 with both men seeking re-election, that is their final terms in office.
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