Amending the Constitution of Ghana: Is the Imperial President Trespassing?

African Journal of International and Comparative Law, Forthcoming

40 Pages Posted: 25 May 2010

See all articles by Stephen Kwaku Asare

Stephen Kwaku Asare

University of Florida - Fisher School of Accounting

H. Kwasi Prempeh

Seton Hall University School of Law

Date Written: May 23, 2010

Abstract

Ghana, the country widely acknowledged as the contemporary leader in African democratization, is currently embarked on a comprehensive review of its Fourth Republican Constitution, in force since the restoration of constitutional democracy in 1993. This process of constitutional revision was initiated unilaterally by the President of Ghana by his appointment in January 2010 of a nine-member extra-parliamentary constitution review commission. The mandate of the commission includes the preparation of a draft Bill of proposed amendments to the Ghana constitution. In this article, we argue that this latest extension of the Ghana president’s prerogatives is both ill-advised and of dubious constitutionality. We believe that, Parliament, not the President, is the constitutionally legitimate and appropriate body to initiate and set the agenda for constitutional change in Ghana. We reach this conclusion on the basis of a textual and structural analysis of relevant provisions of the Ghana constitution, and also advance a set of policy rationales why Parliament, not the presidency, is where the power to review and revise Ghana’s constitution must be located. In our view, an assertion of presidential primacy and control over the process and agenda for constitutional review and amendment, and parliamentary acquiescence in this move, sets a bad constitutional precedent, one that further entrenches Ghana’s tradition of an imperial presidency and extends the tentacles of the presidency to new and dangerous frontiers.

Keywords: Constitutional Amendments, Ghana, Imperial Presidency, Africa, Democratization

Suggested Citation

Asare, Stephen Kwaku and Prempeh, H. Kwasi, Amending the Constitution of Ghana: Is the Imperial President Trespassing? (May 23, 2010). African Journal of International and Comparative Law, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1614365

Stephen Kwaku Asare (Contact Author)

University of Florida - Fisher School of Accounting ( email )

Warrington College of Business
PO Box 117166
Gainesville, FL 32611-7166
United States

HOME PAGE: http://warrington.ufl.edu/fsoa/

H. Kwasi Prempeh

Seton Hall University School of Law ( email )

One Newark Center
Newark, NJ 07102
United States

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