Review Of 1992 Constitution - Referendum Estimated At $1.5m

Mrs Betty Mould-Iddrisu - Minister of Justice and Attorney-General

A national referendum towards amending the entrenched provisions of the 1992 Constitution as part of next year’s constitutional review exercise has been projected to cost $1.5 million.

The entire constitutional review is estimated to cost US$2.7 million, with the government contributing 20 per cent of that amount and the rest coming from donor sources.

Amending the entrenched provisions of the Constitution, which deal mainly with the Transitional Provisions, entails one of the most costly and elaborate processes under the supreme law of the land.

Under Article 290 of the Constitution, it has to begin with the Speaker of Parliament referring the proposals for amendment to the Council of State for its advice, after which “the Council of State shall render advice on the bill within 30 days after receiving it”.

The bill shall then be published in the Gazette but it shall not be introduced in Parliament until after six months after the publication in the Gazette.

“After the bill has been read the first time in Parliament, it shall not be proceeded with further unless it has been submitted to a referendum held throughout Ghana and at least 40 per cent of the persons entitled to vote, voted at the referendum and at least 75 per cent of the persons who voted cast their votes in favour of the passing of the bill.

“Where the bill is approved at the referendum, Parliament shall pass it. Where a bill for the amendment of an entrenched provision has been passed by Parliament in accordance with this article, the President shall assent to it.”

A Cabinet memorandum on the Consultative Review of 16 years of the operation of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana submitted by the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General, Mrs Betty Mould-Iddrisu, outlined the road map for the constitutional review process.

The document, which has already been endorsed by Cabinet, proposed the setting up of a Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) in June 2010 to work on amendments and reforms that needed to be effected in the 1992 Constitution.

Since independence in 1957, Ghana has tested several constitutional models. The 1957 Constitution, modelled after the Westminster system, was repealed in 1960 when Ghana became a sovereign unitary Republic under the 1960 First Republican Constitution.

The 1960 Constitution was abolished on February 24, 1966 when a coup d'etat ushered in the first military government in Ghana under the National Liberation Council (NLC).

The NLC vested both Executive and Legislative powers in itself but preserved the Judicial functions in the Judiciary. The coups d’etat and constitutional experiments continued until the 1992 Constitution was adopted.

The review of the 1992 Constitution presents the first opportunity for assessing and reforming a subsisting constitution since 1960.

The process will involve key steps which will include the preparation of a detailed proposal for constitutional review, complete with a detailed work plan and monitoring framework and a detailed budget, fund-raising, identification of prospective members of the CRC and its office set up.

Before arriving at the current threshold, work done included research and documentation, community and regional level consultations, mini stakeholder consultations with specific interest groups such as academia, Parliament, civil society organisations (CSOs), gender groups, among others.