Workshop On Constitutional Review Commission Under Way In Elmina

A two-day workshop organised for Members of the Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and the Committee on Subsidiary Legislation opened at Elmina in the Central Region on Saturday.

The workshop is to review the final report of the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) and the Government White Paper on the body.

The workshop which is on the theme: “Review of the final report of the Constitutional Review Commission and the Government White Paper,” is being organised by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) in partnership with the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF). Brigadier General Francis Agyemfra (Rtd), Senior Fellow of the IEA said the workshop aimed at providing discussions on the various constitutional amendment proposals that have been compiled and submitted to the Presidency.

Hesaid it is expected that at the end of the workshop, members would be well informed about the various issues that have run through the debate in the Constitutional Review Process which would enable them to engage in an informed debate when proposed amendments are placed before Parliament for deliberations.

“We at the IEA are of the firm conviction that this workshop will go a long way to enhance the debate on the final report to be submitted to Parliament,” he said.

Brig Agyemfra said, as part of the IEA’s effort to consolidate democracy and entrench constitutionalism in Ghana, the institute and UNDEF undertook extensive research and advocacy on key provisions of the 1992 Constitution that Ghanaians believed require review.

He said under the “Giving Voice to the Voiceless in Ghana’s Constitutional Review Process,” the IEA organised zonal workshops in a number of areas in parts of the country to provide platform for marginalised and vulnerable groups, women, youth and persons with disabilities, and the economically disadvantaged segments of the population to participate in, and contribute to the constitutional review process.

Brig Agyemfra said the IEA established a Constitutional Review Coalition, comprising representatives of identifiable marginalised and vulnerable groups, to coordinate research and synthesise the various proposals for amendment into coherent and comprehensive set of recommendations for onward submission to the CRC.

The commission’s report was submitted to the President early this year, leading to the issue of the White Paper. Nii Ayikoi Otoo, a Private Legal Practitioner and former Minister of Justice and Attorney General said under the composition of the review panel of the Supreme Court , Article 133 (2) of the 1992 Constitution the Article shall be constituted in not less than seven justices of the court.

He said page236 of the CRA recommendation says that the current constitutional arrangement on the reviewed panel of the Supreme Court should be amended.