Support process to review 1992 Constitution - Speaker urges citizens
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has said the excessive powers given to the President of the Republic under the 1992 Constitution is not in the best interest of the country.
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Therefore, a review of the Constitution to reduce those powers and strengthen Parliament, the Judiciary and other state institutions, including the media, to operate with greater independence will be a step in the direction, he maintained.
Mr Bagbin was speaking at a public forum on: “Thirty years of Parliamentary Democracy under the Fourth Republic — The journey thus far,’’ last Friday.
The forum was attended by judges, traditional rulers, personnel of the security services, students and members of the public.
The Speaker said although three decades of uninterrupted democratic rule was worth celebrating, there were serious issues to address to give meaning to the governance system.
For instance, he sought to know how Parliament which was to keep the Executive in check was allocated a meagre budget of about GH¢600 million while the latter benefitted from a whopping budget allocation of GH¢3 billion.
Further, the Speaker said the Judiciary was not adequately resourced to operate freely without interference from the Executive.
“Appointments to the bench, various boards and vital state bodies are made by the President, so you don’t expect those appointees to challenge the authority of the President,” he queried.
Support
The Speaker said other state institutions, including the media, were also functioning in weakness, without the appropriate resources to guarantee their full independence.
He, therefore, called on the citizenry to support the process to revise the Constitution to wean the presidency of that unfair and excessive control.
Meanwhile, Mr Bagbin entreated Ghanaians to acquire a new sense of nationalism and seek unity as one people and one nation with a common destiny.
He said the citizenry was now fractured by the parochial interests, tribal and religious sentiments without recourse to national development issues.
Parliamentary democracy
The Agbogbomefia of Asogli, Togbe Afede XIV, who chaired the function, said parliamentary democracy was not an end in itself but was more about addressing the needs of the people.
“What we desire is development that brings inclusion, enhancing the living standards of the people, the realisation of their basic necessities, and happiness,” he added.
The Minority Chief Whip, Governs Kwame Agbodza, paid glowing tribute to former President, Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings for his immense contribution to the current democratic dispensation in which the people were represented in the legislature.
