The Chairperson of the Steering Committee of the Citizens’ Platform on Constitutional Reform (CPCR), Professor Akosua Keseboa Darkwah, has asked the government to reconsider its position to continue to allocate a share of the District Assemblies Common Fund to Members of Parliament (MPs).
“We believe this confuses the legislative role of Members of Parliament with the executive and development responsibilities of district assemblies. All such allocations should, therefore, end,” she stated.
Position paper
She was addressing a press conference in Accra last Tuesday to state the CPCR position paper on the constitutional review process and the government’s position paper on the Kwasi Prempeh Constitution Review Committee.
The CPCR is a collaborative initiative facilitated by CDD-Ghana, STAR-Ghana Foundation and the Democracy Hub, bringing together diverse organisations, activists and citizens to coordinate engagement, advocacy and accountability in Ghana’s ongoing constitutional reform process.
Prof. Darkwah also asked the government to reconsider its position to establish the proposed Democracy Fund only through ordinary legislation and leave its funding to annual executive discretion.
She said the fund, as well as the funding of the Electoral Commission, the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and other key democratic institutions, should be constitutionally protected and ring-fenced.
On the election of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives subject to presidential nomination, shortlisting and vetting by institutions under the Executive, Prof. Darkwah stressed the need for the election to be open and unfiltered, so that every qualified citizen has a fair opportunity to contest.
She urged the government to review its decision to increase the size of Parliament to 300 by adding only 24 proportional-representation seats.
“We believe the proposed study on proportional representation should be conducted now and used to design a meaningful system within the existing ceiling of 276 Members of Parliament.
Prof. Darkwah also asked the government not to remove the National Media Commission’s constitutional responsibility for protecting the independence of the state-owned media and transferring control to the President and institutions under the Executive.
“We believe the commission’s authority over the state-owned media, its press-freedom mandate and its funding must remain constitutionally protected,” she said.
Prof. Darkwah said the issues were fundamental to civil society organisations as they concern the “independence of our institutions, the balance of power among the branches of government, the protection of citizens’ rights and the integrity of the constitutional reform process itself.”
She, therefore, urged the government not to brush them aside or treat the positions contained in the government’s position paper as the final word.
