Prof. Vladimir Antwi-Danso, Dean of the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College, has resisted requests to change elements of the 1992 constitution.
He is pushing for a complete rewrite of the constitution.
Prof. Antwi-Danso believes that a new constitution produced by a newly formed committee will correct any flaws in the country’s democratic system.
In a harsh reply, Sam Awuku Okudzeto, a Council of State Member, stated, “It will be better to address the problems in a leaking roof than collapse an entire building to reconstruct.”
According to him, the proposal to repeal the current constitution will not garner public support, but rather an amendment of areas deemed inefficient will be acceptable to the masses.
Former Speaker of Parliament, Rt Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye, stated in his reply that the current constitution contains critical elements that have sustained the country’s republican democracy for the past 30 years.
Responding to conflicting opinions made over his proposal, Prof. Antwi-Danso) said “In our current circumstances, I was delighted to see the hung parliament, but it has not fulfilled its purpose because everything has been reduced to partisanship”.
He contended that the “patchworks” approach advocated could lead to future anarchy.
“I believe that if we have something new (a new constitution), politicians will rush to it in order to serve a better cause,” he emphasized.
On proportional representation, he believes it will provide the finest representation of the people in parliament, but he is concerned that implementing it will be difficult. Dr. Bossman Asare, Deputy Commissioner of the Electoral Commission, expressed strong views on the matter during a seminar hosted by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA).
He contended that proportional representation provides a more accurate depiction.
He stated that the system of majoritarian representation has not served the people well because it excludes some vulnerable groups.
A seminar on evaluating Ghana’s 1992 Constitution: towards constitutionalism – reflections and refractions was the focus of the event.
