One of the steps taken by the current John Mahama Administration on governance matters was the establishment of a Constitution Review Committee (CRC), whose main task was to identify areas of the 1992 Constitution in need of improvement to address challenges and, more importantly, to strengthen and safeguard Ghana’s democracy.
Context
Unlike previous multiparty democracy attempts, the fourth Republic, built on the foundation of the 1992 Constitution, has endured for 32 years uninterrupted.
This is a testament to the document’s durability and to democratic resilience built over the years.
The Constitution has faced many tests and has been called upon to resolve difficult matters such as disputes over two major elections (2012 and 2020).
The Constitution has so far survived.
But over the years, voices have regularly emerged to express angst about the 1992 Constitution, with many poor governance outcomes blamed on its architectural defects.
These poor governance outcomes have been well captured by good governance surveys and indices such as Afrobarometer, Press Freedom Index, Corruption Perception Index, Democracy Index, to mention a few.
In public conversations, proposals ranged from radical voices demanding a new Constitution to moderate voices demanding reforms to carefully identified areas of defect.
It is within this context that the work of the CRC could not have come at a more opportune time.
The report, presented to the President on December 22, 2025, includes several recommendations.
As the President noted, after the New Year, active steps would be taken to implement the report’s recommendations.
Selected highlights
I have yet to fully digest the 127-page document that has been made public. However, in addition to taking a cursory look at the document and watching the public presentation, during which the chair of the committee provided highlights and context for some of the recommendations, here are the four that immediately caught my attention.
First, term limits and the length of term. With chatter emerging among certain quarters clamouring for a third term for Presidents in violation of the current two-term limit prescribed in the Constitution, the chair’s remark that there is no public appetite for tampering with term limits, as well as no ambiguity about what the Constitution means by two terms, comes with great relief.
However, the committee recommends changing the term length from four to five years.
If this recommendation passes, I hope it does not create an opportunity for exploitation, as happened in a neighbouring country, where a sitting President secured judicial validation of a “reset” of term limits under a new Constitution.
While Ghana is not writing a new Constitution, such avenues for any political mischief must be watched closely and resisted.
Second, a true separation of the Executive from the Legislature.
The idea of a true separation of these two branches of government, as recommended by the suggestion that members of parliament may no longer be appointed to serve as ministers (executive), is excellent.
It potentially frees the majority of MPs, especially from political control by the Executive, which is embodied in the President.
Also, and hopefully, it allows MPs to focus on the work of Parliament without the distraction of executive demands while making them truly independent.
Parliamentary seats
Third, the cap on parliamentary seats.
The committee recommends capping the number of parliamentary seats at the current 276 (the status quo).
Over the course of the 4th republic, additional constituencies have been created, sometimes generating political controversy.
In my opinion, capping the number of seats in Parliament must be accompanied by periodic (after every census, for example) redrawing of constituency boundaries to accommodate demographic shifts.
Fourth, political party internal contests. Currently, when selecting candidates for presidential and parliamentary elections, political parties restrict who is eligible to vote to an electoral college defined by the party’s rules.
The committee recommends that all registered members of a party in good standing must be allowed to vote in such internal contests.
It is an idea (open primaries) I have long supported to make these contests fairer.
I have often argued that when people complain of the “buying of delegates” in these contests, it is easier to “buy” several delegates than to “buy” an entire constituency of voters across 16 regions in a party primary.
It will be interesting to see how political parties respond to this recommendation.
Merry Christmas
This year promises to be an interesting political year.
We will continue to observe and regularly share our thoughts.
On that note, let me take this opportunity to say thank you to all cherished readers of my regular opinion pieces.
Happy New Year to you all.
The writer is the Project Director, Democracy Project
Source:
www.graphic.com.gh