LET'S LOOK AT OUR CONSTITUTION

ONCE again the need for the creation of additional regions has come up for discussion between the government and our traditional leaders.
Responding to a request made by the chiefs and people of the Gonja Traditional Area for the creation of another region out of the existing Northern Region, President J. A. Kufuor hinted that soon there would be the need to create a new region in the northern part of Ghana to enhance development and the decentralisation process.
The chiefs and people of the northern part of the Volta Region have also made a request for the creation of a region for northern Volta. Some chiefs in the Brong Ahafo Region have made a similar request.
It appears that the interest being demonstrated by our traditional leaders and, indeed, the people is an indication that the decentralisation process is positively affecting the development process throughout the country.
Unfortunately, it is difficult for the government to respond to these demands because of the constitutional challenges. The provisions for the creation of new regions are quite complex and entrenched. New regions can only be created after the conduct of a referendum.
Sixteen years into the practice of the new democratic dispensation, we have realised that some of the entrenched provisions have created bottlenecks in our efforts to speed up the development process and entrench democratic values.
For some time now a section of society has believed that the only way to push the frontiers of our democracy forward is for district chief executives to be elected through universal adult suffrage so that they become accountable to the people. It is also an attempt to dilute central government interference in the running of district Assemblies to ensure that the people take over the ownership of the districts and determine their own development agenda.
Another operational difficulty arising out of the entrenched provisions in the Constitution is the appointment of majority of ministers from Parliament. This provision creates problems for the true functioning of the Executive and the Legislature as two separate bodies, with the Legislature acting as the bulwark against abuse of Executive powers.
It is in this vein that we endorse the suggestion by some parliamentarians and statesmen that we undertake an assessment of our Constitution and collate views on entrenched provisions that require amendment for the proper functioning of the democratic order. This way, all these provisions could be put together as one question which could be posed alongside the ballots for presidential and parliamentary elections in future in order to reduce cost.
The process of amending an entrenched provision, as pertains presently in our Constitution, is very cumbersome and may impact heavily on our national kitty.
Although the Constitution empowers the President to create a new region after receiving a petition to that effect or not, the President must first seek the advice of the Council of State and, based on that, appoint a Commission of Enquiry to look into the demand. Based on the recommendations that there is a strong case for a new region, the President is expected to task the Electoral Commission to conduct a referendum on the matter.
But that is not the major headache. The “Catch 22” can be found in Article 6 of the Constitution, which says that “An issue referred for determination by referendum under clauses (4) and (5) shall not be taken to have been determined by the referendum, unless at least 50 per cent of the persons entitled to vote cast their votes at the referendum, and of the votes cast at least 80 per cent were cast in favour of that issue”.
The Daily Graphic believes that in spite of the complex and expensive nature of the amendment of this provision, the general feeling is that our Constitution has come of age and some of the provisions, whether entrenched or not, must be amended to make our democratic practice more functional.