Appoint all Ministers outside Parliament — Participants (PAGE 12, JAN 29, 2011)

Story: Tim Dzamboe, Ho

PARTICIPANTS in a workshop in Ho to collate proposals for the amendment of the 1992 Constitution have suggested that the President should appoint all ministers of state outside parliament.
They also said the presidential term of office should be extended from four to five years to enable the president to effectively cope with the exigencies of his office.
These proposals were received at the Volta Region edition of the workshop on “Grassroots and the Constitutional Review Process” of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) with the collaboration of the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEP).
Dubbed “ Giving Voice to the Voiceless in Ghana’s Constitution Review Process”, a participant suggested that service of civil process for the law courts should be served on implicated MPs at anywhere or that the MPs should nominate a lawyer to take charge of the task in order to stop the unwarranted immunity and frivolous excuses to escape prosecution.
There was a call for the establishment of a central body for the determination of emoluments of all classes from the President through parliament to the ordinary worker in the civil service to ensure fairness and equity in the system.
On the district level elections, a contributor said it should be made partisan because of the way political parties made clandestine moves to let their perceived candidates to win.
It was also suggested that assembly work should not be voluntary, but should be enshrined in the Constitution as full-time job with money from the Common Fund used to pay assembly members.
In a welcoming address, the policy analyst of IEA, Dr Micheal Ofori-Mensah, said the review process was necessary because after 18 years of the Constitution, it had faced several challenges of interpretation because some provisions were difficult to interpret and operate, while other pertinent issues were not provided for in the Constitution.
He said the challenges had complicated the conduct of democratic governance in the country, adding that key areas such as executive, legislature, judiciary and chieftaincy needed re-evaluation.
Dr Ofori-Mensah said democracy could be enhanced if the shortcomings experienced over the last 18 years were addressed by taking into consideration the concerns of vulnerable and marginalised groups.
He said the review process provided an inclusive strategy to ensure that gender advocates and representatives of vulnerable groups were neither ignored nor sidelined.
He also said the IEA in partnership with the UNDEF would be working closely with representatives of marginalised groups through its 11-member Constitution Review Coalition to ensure that the concerns of the constituencies were reflected in the final report.
The Volta Regional Minister, Mr Joseph Amenowode, said although the Constitution had been ridiculed as one of barbers and butchers, it had stood the test of time and lasted for 18 years.
He said the review process was a deepening of the voice of the people for the betterment of democracy.