Ghanaians would soon be called upon to decide in a referendum on the three
critical reviews of portions of the 1992 constitution which are abolition of
the death penalty, declaration of war by the President and the swearing-in of
the President before parliament by the chief Justice.
The proposed amendments will replace the death penalty with life imprisonment
whilst the declaration of war by the President will be subjected to
parliamentary approval within 72 hours with two-thirds majority endorsing and
that the President, under certain circumstances, should be sworn-in anywhere
not before Parliament but by a high court judge.
Mrs. Estelle Appiah, a member of the Constitution Review Implementation
Committee (CRIC), said this at the Central Regional edition of CRIC's regional
stakeholder briefing on the recommendations for amendments of the constitution
held at Elmina.
Mrs. Appiah said the referendum would be held alongside the local and district
assembly elections to cut down cost and at least 40 % of the total voting
population was expected to take part out of which 75 % votes would validate a
particular position.
The entrenched constitutional provisions required a referendum where the
general public would have a say, while those made under the non-entrenched
clauses only required representatives of the people in parliament to endorse.
Other recommendations for amendment under the entrenched clauses are that the
Prerogative of Mercy in offences such as high treason, armed robbery, murder
and narcotic related offences would no longer be a reserve for the President
but be determined by an independent committee to reduce favouritism and abuse
of that power on the part of the President.
The Director of Programmes of the National Commission for Civic Education, Mr.
Samuel Akowah Boateng, said the review was to strengthen the constitution to be
practicable and urged the public to go out in their numbers and vote during the
referendum.
Some participants at the briefing raised concerns about certain aspects of the
review such as the abolition of the death penalty and the declaration of war
arguing that the abolition of the death penalty could lead to high armed
robbery cases.
Source: VibeGhana.com, June 25, 2014
