A former Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, has recommended specific areas of the 1992 4th Republican Constitution that should be considered for amendments.
The areas are; separation of powers between the Executive and the Legislature, the Council of State, and Local government
In his address during the Constitution Day Public Lecture on January 8, 2023, he said with these amendments, the Constitution would be better, cautioning however, against any needless tempering of the Constitution.
On Separation of powers, he said although this concept was to ensure that the Legislature checks the excesses of the Executive since more than half of Ministers are drawn from Parliament, it makes it difficult for the body to carry out that mandate.
“With about half ministers plus some of the deputy ministers drawn from parliament, the legislator can not effectively check the Executive. Cabinet decisions are bidding on ministers and deputy ministers and they must be defended by them including in parliament.
“I think that a system where ministers and their deputies are drawn from outside parliament will be better suited to holding the Executive in check,” he said.
He explained that the requirement to appoint many ministers from Parliament only benefited the President since it would be easy for him to have some policy approved without any hindrances.
“Indeed the requirement to appoint so many ministers from Parliament may be an incentive for a president to increase the number of ministers in order to minimise potential trouble with parliament.
On the Council of State, Dr Afari- Gyan said despite the advisory body’s revered role, the work it has undertaken so far does not align with its intended role but creates the impression that it was an “honorific institution without power.”
He said however that apart from the President, the Council has the power to advise every public institution.
“It will help the public to gauge the Council’s impact if periodically, it issues a report indicating what advice it has given to which institution,” he said.
Touching on local government, he stated that nothing can be achieved without fundamental reforms in the local government system.
Referencing the failure of the local government, he said calls by citizens for the government to provide toilet facilities dramatises the shortcomings at the local level.
He emphasised, “Clearly, what we have now is the shadow and not the substance of decentralisation.”
However, he said all was not lost.
The former head of the Electoral Commission said powers and resources must be allotted the unit committees to enable them make decisions on their own.
He further said the District, Municipal and Metropolitan Chief Executives must be elected to promote their accountability to the local people.
Again, he asked that elections at the district level be opened to political party participation. However, the election formula should not be a first-past-the-post system but a form of proportional representation called the mixed member proportion.
He believes this will bring more political parties into the local government system.
Again, Dr Afari Gyan said it should be made an offence if the release funds are delayed.
Finally, he raised concerns about why elected members of the assembly are not paid, nor do they receive money to develop their respective electoral areas, while Members of Parliament receive money from the District Assembly Common Fund.
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