Chairman of the Constitution Review Committee, Professor Henry Kwasi Prempeh has explained that engagements with the public forms an integral part of deliberations that will ultimately lead to the efficient reforms of Ghana’s governance system.
The committee head in an engagement with happyghana.com explained that the ongoing deliberations by the review committee are expected to be delivered to government with a detailed collection of ideas that have come from experts in every sector and concerns of the public that need to be addressed through the reforms of the constitution. “Normally when people are thinking about constitution or the constitutional review, they think it’s about parliament or the president and his ministers but there’s a reason why we have prioritized this issue…”
He noted that the involvement of parliament in the reforms does not entirely make it solely a duty of the legislative body but rather a process which follows engagement with the public . “We are looking at the reforms from a problem solving frame. It’s really about Lands and Natural Mineral Resources — who owns what. If the people in a community believe that they are getting nothing from the resource that is on their land, they are more likely to pillage and abuse the land in order to get the resource than if they thought they are getting something out of it.” he said while referencing the thematic area Land and Natural Resources as as the area for Day One’s deliberations.
Professor Prempeh called on all Ghanaians to support the mission of the committee in as many ways as possible until the reviews are completed and the reforms are duly made by government. “The duty does not stand on just the shoulders of government. Once we are done with these deliberations, people have to be engaged, people have to be interested in the change, people have to offer ideas. The voice of the Ghanaian people should be stronger at that time.” he intimated.
By: Kobina Baidoo
