‘Inability to review Constitution has affected Ghana negatively’

By Edmund Smith-Asante

Ghana's inability to develop at the pace the countries with which it gained independence are developing has been blamed on outdated portions of its 1992 Constitution.

The urgent review of those portions has, therefore, been recommended for the country to accelerate its development.

Referring to South Korea as one of the countries that had greatly developed, although it started off with Ghana, the Rt Rev Samuel N. Mensah, a leadership consultant, stated, “They have had a series of political disturbances and wars just like us; they have the current UN Secretary General, just as we had the former, but what has really set them apart in national development is the willingness to change and innovate in every area of their economy.

“This has made them review their national constitution several times to become relevant with the current national development drive, while we haven’t had the courage and will to do so even once. That has affected us very negatively because our current Constitution has many provisions which are stalling the national development goal.  

“A typical example is the provision for the President to make 40 per cent of his appointments from Parliament. It is a provision that is a recipe for the Executive having its way in Parliament and that is not good for the principle of separation of powers.”

Patriotism for national development

The Rt Rev. Mensah, who is also the President of the Full Gospel Church International (FGCI), was recently addressing his congregation on the topic, “Patriotism for National Development — The Heartbeat of Ghana”, at a special church service dubbed, Ghana Day, in Tema.

Citing Singapore as another country that started off its development at the same time as Ghana, he said the fact that Singapore had carved a niche for itself as a trade destination around the world, which propelled its national development agenda very significantly, did not mean it engaged only in trading but also had competitive advantage. 

The Rt Rev Mensah also said Malaysia now had one of the best educational systems in the world, such that teachers in Malaysia were paid about four times the salary of schoolteachers in Ghana. 

Recommendations

Enumerating 11 patriotic traits that promoted national development, the clergyman said, “adopting the recommendations of the Constitution Review Commission to update our Constitution and removing all the flaws that bedevil it so it becomes a tool for national development rather than the blockage of some of its aspects is now.”

He further urged Parliament to exercise true patriotism and pass the Freedom of Information Bill, which, he said, had been “tossed to and fro because of political interest”. 

In his view, the passage of the bill would open up the governance system to the populace, who would hold all state institutions accountable and put them on their toes because of the ready availability of information from any organ of government or state institution and also serve as a self-mechanism to check bribery and corruption.

He further asked for a complete overhaul of the national curriculum to give preference to civic and citizenship education, a revamping of the National Service Scheme to make it effective and the modernisation of the celebration of Ghana’s Independence Day from the age-old route march into the more realistic national communal labour in communities, which would be led by the district assemblies. 

“It is a better way to serve Ghana and celebrate our independence in the 21st century,” he said.

This  story was first published in the Daily Graphic on May 27, 2014