Amending 1992 Constitution not enough; Let's focus on new mindset, national values — Osei-Owusu.
According to the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joseph Osei-Owusu, changing aspects of the 1992 Constitution will not be enough to address democratic challenges or achieve the expected good governance.
He believes that the emphasis should be on changing Ghanaians' attitudes and creating new national values.
According to him, the country should focus on developing a new mindset that makes people take responsibility, be accountable, honest and law abiding".
"The fine print of the Constitution may have flaws; we can correct them, but that is insufficient. "I believe we should place a greater emphasis on changing our orientation, developing new national values, and selling them to children as they grow up," he said.
Mr Osei-Owusu stated this on Tuesday at the Institute of Economic Affairs' Constitutional Review Seminar in Accra.
It was titled "Reviewing Ghana's 1992 Constitution: Parliamentary Perspectives."
Authority
Mr Osei-Owusu, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bekwai, questioned whether amending the Constitution would make a difference if Ghanaians continued to behave badly.
"Would anything different happen if we just change the wording; the letter of the Constitution? "No!" he exclaimed.
Local government
Citing an example under the Constitution in the Local Government Act, he said economic development was decentralised and the district assemblies were supposed to be in charge, "but even the common fund that the Constitution says should be distributed …we don't do it".
The MP said that to date, about 90 per cent of the local authorities could not raise revenue, to the extent that now “we have budgeted to bring the collection of revenue at the district assembly to the centre, and to be managed by the Ghana Revenue Authority.”
“What difference would it make if we change the wording?” he enquired.
Again, he said, under the Ghana Investment Council Promotion Act, foreigners were not supposed to engage in retail trade. But going to the Makola Market, the situation was different.
“So I think that an amendment of the Constitution only and nothing more may not achieve anything new,” he emphasised, adding: “We may not be able to meet the aspirations and we may not be able to create the public value for which we are elected officials.”
Mr Osei-Owusu suggested that in addition to whatever amendment, “we should focus on developing a new mindset that makes people take responsibility, be accountable, honest and law-abiding.”
Over the years, he said, Ghanaians had abandoned anything called national value, with the consistent and persistent deterioration of integrity in the last 61 years.
“The problem we have in this country is dishonesty; it is widespread. It’s a pity that we tend to focus on public office holders, elected officials,” he said, adding that some were also irresponsible when it came to handling public property.
Mr Osei-Owusu also cited the non-payment of taxes by a vast majority of people for the provision of goods and services.
Limit
The MP for Abuakwa South, Samuel Atta Akyea, said there should be an upper limit to the number of people who go to the Supreme Court, adding that for “those of you who are interested in looking at the constitution, you would see that, as it stands now, it is too open-ended for comfort, and I believe we should do something about it.”
“If there is one particular amendment that I am very much interest in, I believe that is it,” he said.
The MP for Akwapim South, Osei Bonsu Amoah, said the day for elections was one thing that needed to be agreed on by Ghanaians.
“Should we just depend on any day on December 7, one month before Parliament is dissolved?” he queried, wondering whether Ghanaians could agree on that.
Independence
Dr William Ahadzi, Rector of the Ghana Institute of Social Democracy and former Director of Research for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), said the appointment of ministers from Parliament was worth considering because it was linked to Parliament's independence.
"If we claim to have strict separation of powers, why is it the president's responsibility to appoint the chief justice, in consultation with the Council of State, and approval by Parliament?" asked Kwame Jantuah, Chairman of the Convention People's Party's (CPP) Political Affairs Committee.
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