Ghana’s Constitution has many defects, it needs a transformation – Bagbin

The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has emphasised the need to transform the 1992 Constitution.

Citing sections from Afrobarometer’s 2024 report, he noted that many Ghanaian youth are becoming disillusioned with democracy, expressing concern about the trend and its potential threats to the country.

According to Bagbin, the foundation of Ghana’s democracy, the constitution, has several flaws and complexities, including the excessive concentration of power in the executive, undermining the balance of power among the other arms of government.

He explained that while the constitution has contributed to political stability, it has come at the cost of the country’s overall development.

He was speaking at the University of Ghana (UG) Alumni Lecture on the theme: “30 Years of Parliamentary Democracy: The Journey Thus Far,” in Accra on Thursday.

“The focus of the first brains behind drafting this constitution was to achieve political stability. If my guess is right, I must admit we have succeeded in doing just that at the expense of development. We now have to move on to focus on development. I don’t need to call on, but we must take up a constitutional transformation.”

“I agree with Ghanaians who say that there is nothing to reform. We have to transform everything. This constitution has many defects and the time to fix those defects has been long overdue.

“While the defects are too many, I will just highlight three of them that have impacted the work of parliament. One is the excessive executive power,” he stated.