Speaker of Parliament Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin has stressed the importance of reforming Ghana’s 1992 Constitution, citing its limitations and challenges.
Drawing from Afrobarometer’s 2024 report, Bagbin highlighted the growing disillusionment among Ghanaian youth with democracy, warning of the potential threats this poses to the nation’s stability.
He pointed out that the constitution’s heavy concentration of power in the executive disrupts the balance among the branches of government, hampering democratic governance.
While the constitution has played a key role in maintaining political stability, Bagbin argued it has also impeded Ghana’s broader development.
Bagbin made these remarks during the University of Ghana Alumni Lecture in Accra, where he spoke on the theme, “30 Years of Parliamentary Democracy: The Journey Thus Far.”
“The focus of the first brains behind drafting this constitution was to achieve political stability. If my guess is right, I must admit we have succeeded in doing just that at the expense of development. We now have to move on to focus on development. I don’t need to call on, but we must take up a constitutional transformation.”
“I agree with Ghanaians who say that there is nothing to reform. We have to transform everything. This constitution has many defects and the time to fix those defects has been long overdue.
“While the defects are too many, I will just highlight three of them that have impacted the work of parliament. One is the excessive executive power,” he stated.