The Constitutional Review Consultative Committee, established by the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has made a series of significant recommendations aimed at reforming the executive and legislative branches of the Ghanaian government.
The committee, led by lawyer Clare Kasser-Tee, was tasked with reviewing the 2011 report of the Constitution Review Commission.
Among the committee’s notable recommendations is the proposal that the President of Ghana should pay taxes. This recommendation, if implemented, would reflect the principle of equality before the law and align with the rule of law.
Currently, Article 68(5) of the constitution exempts the president from paying income tax. The committee suggests that this article should be amended so that the president pays taxes on his salary and emoluments, setting an example for the rest of the citizenry.
This change would also require consequential amendments to the country’s income tax law.
In addition, the committee recommended that the number of ministers be capped at 25. Ghana has seen a high number of ministers in recent years, with the current administration under President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo reaching as many as 110 ministers.
Main candidates in the 2024 presidential election have promised to significantly reduce this number, with former President John Mahama proposing 60 ministers and Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia suggesting 50.
The committee also proposed the abolition of Deputy Minister positions. Furthermore, it recommended that ministers should not be Members of Parliament, diverging from the current constitutional mandate that requires the majority of ministers to be lawmakers.
Another key recommendation is to cap the size of Parliament at 277 members. The proposed amendment to Article 93 of the Constitution states, “There shall be a Parliament of Ghana which shall consist of not more than two hundred and seventy-seven elected members.”
These recommendations were presented to Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu on June 13, 2024, for preliminary suggestions or firm resolve for the review of the 1992 Constitution.
The event, themed “Building consensus and promoting ownership for the review of the Constitution,” was organized by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.
The committee’s mandate included reviewing submissions, proposals, and reports from various constitutional review platforms, including the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), the University of Ghana Law School, the University of Professional Studies (UPSA), and the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).
In addition, the committee is tasked with making recommendations to the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and its partners and collaborators, including the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE), Africa Centre for Economic Transformation (ACET), Centre for Democratic Development (CDD), Institute of Democratic and Economic Governance (IDEG), and the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), among others.
The proposed reforms aim to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of Ghana’s governance structures, promoting accountability, and ensuring a more streamlined and representative government.