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Constitutional review: Referendum to cost
$1.5million
By Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh,
Ghanadot
National referendum towards amending the
entrenched provisions of the 1992
Constitution as part of next year’s
constitutional review exercise has been
projected to cost $1.5 million.
The entire constitutional review is
estimated to cost US$2.7 million, with the
government contributing 20 per cent of that
amount and the rest coming from donor
sources.
Amending the entrenched provisions of the
Constitution, which deal mainly with the
Transitional Provisions, entails one of the
most costly and elaborate processes under
the supreme law of the land.
Under Article 290 of the Constitution, it
has to begin with the Speaker of Parliament
referring the proposals for amendment to the
Council of State for its advice, after which
“the Council of State shall render advice on
the bill within 30 days after receiving it.”
The bill shall then be published in the
Gazette but it shall not be introduced in
Parliament until after six months after the
publication in the Gazette.
“After the bill has been read the first time
in Parliament, it shall not be proceeded
with further unless it has been submitted to
a referendum held throughout Ghana and at
least 40 per cent of the persons entitled to
vote, voted at the referendum and at least
75 per cent of the persons who voted cast
their votes in favour of the passing of the
bill.
“Where the bill is approved at the
referendum, Parliament shall pass it. Where
a bill for the amendment of an entrenched
provision has been passed by Parliament in
accordance with this article, the President
shall assent to it.”
A Cabinet memorandum on the Consultative
Review of 16 years of the operation of the
1992 Constitution of Ghana submitted by the
Minister of Justice and Attorney-General,
Mrs Betty Mould-Iddrisu, outlined the road
map for the constitutional review process.
The document, which has already been
endorsed by Cabinet, proposed the setting up
of a Constitutional Review Commission (CRC)
in June 2010 to work on amendments and
reforms that needed to be effected in the
1992 Constitution.
The commission is also expected to hold
discussions with the Electoral Commission
(EC) on the management of the referendum.
According to the memorandum, the EC would be
required to hold a referendum and declare
the results in October/November 2011.
According to it, when the constitutional
proposals were submitted to Parliament, they
would be considered and facilitated in
October 2011.
Since independence in 1957, Ghana has tested
several constitutional models.
The 1957 Constitution, modelled after the
Westminster system, was repealed in 1960
when Ghana became a sovereign unitary
Republic under the 1960 First Republican
Constitution.
1960 Constitution was abolished on February
24, 1966 when a coup d’état ushered in the
first military government in Ghana under the
National Liberation Council (NLC).
The NLC vested both Executive arid
Legislative powers in itself but preserved
the Judicial functions in the Judiciary.
The coups d’état and constitutional
experiments continued until the 1992
Constitution was adopted.
The review of the 1992 Constitution presents
the first opportunity for assessing and
reforming a subsisting constitution since
1960.
The process will involve key steps which
will include the preparation of a detailed
proposal for constitutional review, complete
with a detailed work plan and monitoring
framework and a detailed budget, funding,
identification of prospective members of the
CRC and its office set up.
Ghanadot
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