Ten recommendations and/or proposals have been given for consideration regarding the future of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana by participants at the 2023 edition of the law conference of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).

On March 14 to 16, 2023, GIMPA hosted the GIMPA Law Conference. "The 1992 Constitution of Ghana @ 30: Taking Stock, Assessing Progress, and Dwelling on The Future" was the conference's central focus.

reas of focus

The conference had several subthemes. Among them were; 30 Years of Multi-party democracy: Challenges and Prospects; The Economy and Financial Management in Ghana since 1993; Human Rights under the 1992 Constitution and Miscellaneous Constitutional Questions (including the political question doctrine).

Other subthemes of the conference were; Management of Natural Resources under the 1992 Constitution; Women’s Rights and Rights of Persons with Disabilities; Constitutional Review and Amendment of the 1992 Constitution; Interpretation and Enforcement of the 1992 Constitution; Contribution of the Judiciary to Constitutional Development; and finally, the Judiciary under the 1992 Constitution.

Recommendations

The recommendations and/or proposals suggested by participants at the 2023 GIMPA Law Conference, were firstly; “As a nation, we must embrace technology and its created systems as opposed to abandoning the idea of incorporating technology as a part of our governance architecture, due to foreseeable failures or challenges with technology that can be prevented and/or addressed.

Secondly, the conference participants recommended that “private prosecution of corruption related offences should be considered to help the State fight corruption” more effectively.

Thirdly, “Article 181(5) of the 1992 Constitution should be seriously looked at as it seems not to be serving the purposes which it was enacted” and fourthly, “the provision on the prohibition of an unconstitutional overthrow of the Constitution should be amended to explain what would constitute a suspension, an overthrow or an abrogation.

The fifth recommendation on the conference was that “we [Ghana] must consider a cap on the number of constituencies created as well as the number of Members of Parliament as this would help ease the pressure on the public purse.

Their sixth recommendation was that the country “must also consider returning to the 1979 Constitutional provisions on strict separation of powers between the Executive and the Legislature, so that a Member of Parliament cannot be a Minister of State at the same time”. This the conference participants noted; “will help strengthen the institution of Parliament to serve as a check on the Executive”.

“The Legislature in enacting or amending new or old laws regulating natural resources should use as a blueprint, the law regulating the management of petroleum resources” was the seventh recommendation made by the experts who attended the conference.

The eighth recommendation was that “We should urgently take another look at the content of the Affirmative Action Bill to bring its provisions in line with contemporary realities, as well as ratify the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (the Maputo Protocol), and always make provision for persons with disabilities in all our laws”.

The process of enacting Executive instruments should be amended to include a process that reflects the principle of checks and balances and Discretionary powers of administrative bodies such as the Electoral Commission should be carefully circumscribed” constituted the ninth and tenth recommendations of the conference attendees.

Panel discussions

As part of the three-day programme, there were panel discussions on several topics. The first panel looked at the topic; “Thirty Years of Multi-Party Democracy: Challenges and Prospects”.

It was moderated by Dr. Enam Antonio, a Lecturer at the GIMPA Faculty of Law. The panelists included Mr Dennis Adjei Dwommoh, Managing Attorney, Law Plus, Mr Nicholas Lenin Anane, Lawyer, Akufo-Addo, Prempeh & Co. and Mr. Joshua Godwin Kyeremateng, Law Lecturer at the Faculty of Law of the University of Cape Coast.

Panel two and three (concurrent panels) considered the Economy and Financial Management in Ghana since 1993 and the impact of the 1992 Constitution on the Socio-Economic Development of Ghana.

Panel two was moderated by Dr. Dotse Tsikata, Principal Lecturer, GIMPA Faculty of Law and the panel members included Mr Clement Kojo Akapame, Senior Lecturer, GIMPA Faculty of Law, Dr Stephen Amoah, Member of Parliament, Nyiaeso Constituency and Mr Jesse Heymann, Associate, Koranteng & Koranteng Legal Advisors.

Panel three was moderated by Mr. Victor Brobbey, Adjunct Lecturer, GIMPA Faculty of Law with Mr. Reginald Nii Odoi, Assistant State Attorney, Office of the Attorney General & Ministry of Justice, Mr Edmund Nelson Amasah, Lecturer, Faculty of Law, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology, Mr Alexander Hackman-Aidoo, Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of Cape Coast and Diana Asonaba Dapaah, Deputy Attorney General & Deputy Minister of Justice of Ghana, as members of the panel.

Other experts in various fields joined the discussion to look at other topics such as “Parliament is a Master of its own Rules, but the Constitution is a Master of all Rules: An Examination of the decision in the Justice Abdulai versus The Attorney-General case”, and Management of Natural Resources under the 1992 Constitution.

Other topics that came up for discussion during day two and three of the conference were: Women’s Rights and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; Constitutional Review and Amendment of the 1992 Constitution; Interpretation and enforcement of the 1992 Constitution; and Contribution of the Judiciary to Constitutional development since 1993.