Constitutional reforms need a roadmap to survive changes in government – Dr Asante

Director of Policy Engagement and Partnerships at the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), Dr Kojo Pumpuni Asante, has called for a statutory roadmap to guide the implementation of Ghana’s proposed constitutional reforms beyond changes in government.

He said the legitimacy and long-term success of the reform process would depend not only on legal and political decisions but also on ensuring that citizens feel genuinely involved in shaping the outcome.

Speaking on JoyNews’ The Law on Sunday, November 1, during a discussion on the work of the Constitutional Review Committee (CRC), bridging political divides and the way forward, Dr Asante stressed the importance of what he described as “process guarantees”.

“I think the process guarantees are very important,” he said.

Referencing comments by former Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo, Dr Asante said constitutional reform should not be treated solely as an exercise for legal scholars and politicians.

“Justice Sophia Akuffo, I think, recently said something similar about this as not just a process about law, legal scholars and politics, but it's about the legitimacy of the process,” he noted.

According to him, whatever decisions emerge from the reform process must be accepted and believed in by Ghanaians.

“Whatever we come to a conclusion on, it has to be believed and accepted by the people,” he said.

He warned that reforms could fail to produce the desired results if citizens do not feel they have been adequately involved in the process.

“So if the people don't feel part of it, don't feel that they have contributed to it, you pass legislation and it will not deliver the desired result,” he stated.

Dr Asante said one of the most important safeguards required for the reform process is what he described as a Roadmap and Implementation Act.

He explained that the proposed legislation should track the various actions and reforms arising from the constitutional review process and provide a statutory framework for their implementation.

“We believe that one of the first things we have to do is to pass a Roadmap and Implementation Act that basically tracks all of the different actions and reforms that we want to undertake, but they'll do it by statute,” he said.

According to Dr Asante, such a framework would help protect the reform process and ensure its continuity beyond the tenure of the current government.

“So that it gives us the security that if we go past 2028 into another regime, into a different transition, that we are able to still carry out the reforms,” he explained.

He noted that the reforms would take place at different levels, including constitutional amendments, statutory changes and subsequent legislation, making it unrealistic to expect all of them to be completed within a short period.

“Because there are many levels of reform. Some are constitutional, some are statutory, some are subsequent legislation,” he said.

Dr Asante also cautioned against rushing the entire reform agenda and putting unnecessary pressure on the process.

“There is no way, with our election also coming, that you'll be able to execute all of this properly. So we shouldn't put ourselves in a corner with all that pressure and make sure that we put a framework in place that allows us to continue working on some of these reforms,” he added.