IDEG wants constitution to address concerns of public

Dr Emmanuel Akwetey, Executive Director of the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG), has said that “There is no need to rush through the amendment process of the constitution if the outcome will not address issues of peaceful elections and development.”

He said a lot of state funds were spent on activities towards the review of the country’s 1992 Constitution and there was the need to ensure that the articles accepted by the government for amendment represented the larger interest of Ghanaians to ensure value for money.

Dr Akwetey said this when making a presentation on proposals for Multi-party Governance Reforms dubbed: "National Interest Dialogue" organised by IDEG, Civic Forum Initiative (CFI) and partners in Tamale.

The forum, attended by officials from state institutions, civil society representatives, traditional rulers and members of the public, was to seek public support for proposals developed by IDEG, CFI and partners, deemed to strengthen the country’s hybrid system of multi-party governance, which has so far been the most stable and peaceful in Ghana's post colonial history.

The IDEG, CFI and partners want the proposals to be part of the on-going process to amend the country’s 1992 Constitution, which is in its final stages.

Dr Akwetey said the articles accepted by the government to be amended, as part of the constitutional review process, would only serve to deepen the political polarization and mistrust of state institutions to deliver efficient services, which were only recipes for tension in the country.

He said an analysis of the Ghanaian political situation showed that, the two dominant political parties were neck-to-neck in terms of their support base, adding that, to exclude almost half of the population out of the running of the affairs of state was not good for the country’s democratic process.

He, therefore, proposed that the position of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) be elective and open to all political parties to contest as a means to scrapping the winner-takes-all-system of governance to make the political parties busy.

He said this would not only ensure accountability but would also make the political parties busy, thinking through the country’s development problems and ways of solving them, instead of always campaigning for power, which tended to distract ruling governments.

Dr Akwetey argued that if MMDCEs were elected, people would know who amongst them was performing well to renew his or her mandate and vice-versa and this would encourage competition amongst the MMDCEs and political parties to effectively discharge their functions to save their jobs.

He also proposed devolution of powers from the executive to Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) as well as resource the MMDAs to enable them to function effectively for the benefit of the people.

Other proposal was state funding of political parties to enable them to undertake research and come out with effective policies that would enhance the development of the country.

Dr Akwetey also proposed a merger of presidential, parliamentary and district assembly elections, which should be held within a defined campaign period to reduce the election-overload and create more time and space for development policies and public welfare issues.

Alhaji A.B.A Fuseini, Deputy Northern Regional Minister said the government made a conscious effort to involve all in the amendment process of the constitution and therefore all major concerns had been captured in the government’s white paper.

Alhaji Fuseini nonetheless commended IDEG and partners for their efforts at rallying the citizenry to participate in the country’s democratic process.

Chief of Sagnarigu, Abdulai Yakubu Andani said “Politics in Ghana is about power, not to bring about development but for the benefit of politicians, their relatives and cronies,”

He said no amount of reforms would change the situation unless the citizenry changed their attitudes.

Alhaji Mohammed Seidu Issah Abah, former District Chief Executive for Chereponi welcomed the proposal to make the position of MMDCEs elective saying this would give them security of tenure of office and peace of mind to work.