Chairman of the Constitution Review Committee, Prof H. Kwasi Prempeh, has emphasized that democracy and constitution-making are not about speed, but about producing legitimate reforms through extensive debate and public participation.
Speaking on JoyNews' PM Express, Prof Prempeh defended calls for broader public deliberation on Ghana's constitutional review process, insisting that while it may slow the timetable, democracy and constitution-making are not designed to be fast.
Constitutions Are Different
Prof Prempeh stressed that constitutions are fundamentally different from ordinary politics because they are designed to outlive governments, political parties, and individual leaders. "Constitutions are different; they are forward-looking. They last at least a generation. They set the foundational rules of the game for how the country is to be governed, how we recruit our national political leadership, how we exit them, how we distribute power, and these things transcend party governments."
A Patriotic Approach
Prof Prempeh urged political leaders to think beyond their time in office and consider the kind of country future generations would inherit. "If you see it as just a zero-sum game of another way for one incumbent party to get their preferences vis-à-vis the rival party, then I think we have lost an opportunity to do some real game-changing reforms." He hopes the political class will approach the exercise with patriotism rather than partisan interests.
The Importance of Public Participation
Prof Prempeh argued that extensive debate and public participation are essential to producing legitimate reforms. "Rather than rush things and go quickly to cast a vote, let us debate and argue it, and let the public be part of that debate, and let us see who has the superior arguments, because we are reforming our state, the republic, and how it's governed." He admitted that the review process has already lost valuable time, saying "I think we've lost time."
A Necessary Trade-Off
When asked whether the approach would cause further delays, Prof Prempeh replied that such trade-offs are unavoidable in democratic constitution-making. "That's what makes constitutions and constitution-making and democracy slower than the alternative. You slow it so that you hopefully improve the outcome, the legitimacy of the outcome." He emphasized that the remaining time should be used to maximize public deliberation rather than accelerate the process.
Prof Prempeh's comments come as the country continues to navigate its constitutional review process. The review process has already lost valuable time, and Prof Prempeh hopes that the remaining time will be used to produce legitimate reforms through extensive debate and public participation. As the country moves forward, it remains to be seen whether Prof Prempeh's approach will be adopted, and whether the country will prioritize the production of a legitimate constitution over the desire for speed.
Source: Joy Online
