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Lawyer cautions against review of Constitution

Akoto Ampaw, a legal practitioner, has cautioned that there is no guarantee that reviewing the 1992 Constitution will offer the country an immediate solution to its myriad of challenges and spur it to instant socioeconomic development.

“There should be a renewed mindset among leadership and the citizenry towards the tenets of the Constitution despite its ailing, it can deliver solutions to the country’s problems and bring progress, growth and development to the citizenry,” he entreated.

Mr Ampaw urged citizens to be circumspect in calling for review of the Constitution since they got something never thought of because with its ailing, there were important aspects of it Ghanaians were still enjoying.

Speaking at the launch of an ‘Active Citizenship Strategy’ by STAR-Ghana Foundation in Accra, he stressed that the Constitution did not come by itself but people initiated it and it was important not to assume“if you have constitutional review today, you will have better constitution than what you have because over the last 30 years various groups have been activated on this ground”.

The ‘Active Citizenship Strategy’ was on the theme: ‘Fostering innovative models of active citizenship for inclusive and sustainable development in Ghana” sought to encourage citizens’ participation in national discourse.

Various political activists, civil society organisations, and the National Commission for Civic Education and individuals have advocated review of some provisions of the 1992 Constitution to meet current challenges.

However, Mr Ampaw suggested re-structuring of political parties in terms of culture and ethics and change in mindset of the citizenry to enable the Constitution to properly function but reviewing it would achieve no results without strategic planning.

Charles Abugre, Vice Chairman, STAR Ghana Foundation, said the absence of merit, competitiveness, firmness and fairness in the system was eroding citizens’ confidence in the state’s ability to address their problems which could have dire consequences.

Senyo Hosi, the Chief Executive Officer of the Bulk Oil Distributors, reiterated the need for depolarisation of democratic dispensation space to bolster confidence in the system and advocated deepening of separation of powers among the three arms of government to ensure oversight responsibility on each other to foster probity, transparency and accountability.

He charged Ghanaians to eschew any fear of victimisation and speak up against the ills of society to ensure progress, growth and development was achieved. –myjoyonline.com

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