Removal Of Indemnity Clauses Will Cause Chaos - Prof Fiadjoe

The Chairman of the erstwhile Constitution Review Commission (CRC), Professor Albert Fiadjoe, says any attempt to remove the Indemnity Clauses in the 1992 Constitution will create chaos in the country.

According to him, removing the Indemnity Clauses would mean all governments following the 1966 coup d’etat that overthrew the Nkrumah regime would be deemed illegal, considering that the Indemnity Clauses covered participants of all governments since the 1966 coup.

Answering a question on why the CRC recommended the retention of the Indemnity Clauses, Professor Fiadjoe said some people who served the nation in good faith could be criminalised if they were removed, since they would be held liable jointly and severally.

“If you remove them (Indemnity Clauses) what help does it bring to the nation, and if you retain them what harm does it cause the nation?”, he asked during a media interaction in Accra.

It was organised by the Ministry of Information to sensitise journalists to the CRC recommendations and the government White Paper on same.

The Indemnity Clauses in the Transitional Provisions of the 1992 Constitution are legal provisions that indemnify persons who participated in military regimes on the basis of coup d’états on February 24, 1966; January 13, 1972; June 4, 1979, and December 31, 1981.

During the nationwide constitutional review consultation process, sections of the Ghanaian populace made a strong case for the removal of the Indemnity Clauses in order to bring to justice human rights abusers under those four military regimes.

However, the CRC recommended the retention of the Transitional Provisions in its report to the government.

Justifying that recommendation, Professor Fiadjoe said removing the Indemnity Clauses would also defeat the import of the national reconciliation exercise undertaken recently.

He said it was important to rid discussions on the matter of emotions.

Professor Fiadjoe said all good constitutions worldwide provided for transitions and that Ghana’s 1992 Constitution was not different.

He said even countries that did not have problems in respect of coup d’états had Transition Provisions in their constitution to ensure smooth transition in the democratic process.

Another controversial issue that was raised during the interaction was the recommendation that the legality or otherwise of homosexuality be decided by the Supreme Court if the matter comes before the court, and why the government did not accept or reject it.

Explaining, Professor Fiadjoe said as of now, homosexuality was not an expressly recognised human right, hence the recommendation for the Supreme Court to deal with the matter.

While appreciating the overwhelming submissions made by members of the public to criminalise homosexuality, he said the commission was not only minded by quantitative data, but also qualitative data to inform its recommendations.

Giving reasons as to why the government’s White Paper rejected the CRC recommendation for a 24-hour detention rule instead of the current 48-hour rule, the Deputy Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Ebo Barton-Odro, said the recommendation was not acceptable because it would make law enforcement difficult.

He said law enforcers faced some genuine challenges in the discharge of their responsibility and that had to be considered.

In his closing remarks, the Minister of Information, Mr Fritz Baffour, thanked the participants for their input and expressed the hope that the media would explain the issues to the understanding of the public so that they would be well informed about good governance.

Professor Fiadjoe also paid glowing tribute to the Executive Secretary of the CRC, Dr Raymond Atuguba, for his “prodigy, industry and sharpness of mind” in leading the CRC team to do a commendable job.

He was hopeful that the nation would recognise his enormous contribution to the development of it’s democracy.