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Framers of 1992 constitution underestimated the corroding power of partisan politics – Prof. Abotsi
Dean of the School of Law at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), Professor Kofi Abotsi, says the biggest problem facing Ghana’s constitutionalism is the corroding and corrupting power of partisan politics.
According to him, it appears the framers of the 1992 constitution had underestimated the power of partisan politics to exploit, abuse, and corrupt the constitution to serve their parochial interests.
“I think if you look at, for example, the provision on political parties starting from Article 55 onwards, you get a sense that there was a certain general assumption that political parties and political parties forming governments will naturally act in the best interest of Ghanaians,” he said on JoyFM’s Super Morning Show.
Prof. Abotsi said the framers had seemingly ignored the history of political parties in Ghana, and underestimated how their nature could adversely impact governance and governance structures in the country.
“I think what the framers of the constitution perhaps underestimated is the nature of our political party history. There is a certain serious historical problem of our political parties in Ghana which started all the way from UGCC. And you’d be surprised that those historical dynamics are with us today,” he said.
“They continue to reflect in the relationships of the parties as what we have is the tendency for these parties to dig in and create sectionalism in which members of certain political parties when they’re in power it is their time and when they’re out of power whoever comes it is their time.
“And there’s the tendency of us against them and there’s the tendency of a cycle in which there’s a benefit – this cycle is over the new cycle begins, and these new cycle members of that party enjoy,” he added.
He concluded that while there have been recent agitations for constitutional reforms, those reforms will eventually be faced with the same problems the current constitution is faced with.
According to him, no constitution is perfect as they can be circumvented by human ingenuity.
“So if you ask me the problem fundamentally it’s not the constitution, the constitution reform can only do so much. Look, no matter how much you engineer constitutions, lawyers spend their time dissecting and understanding the weakness of the new design and you would invariably find the weaknesses of the new design,” he said.
Source: Myjoyonline.com
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GEXIM deepens relations with US EXIM Bank
A management team of the Ghana Export – Import Bank (GEXIM) led by the Acting Chief Executive, Sylvester Mensah met with the leadership of the Export–Import Bank of the United States (US EXIM) on Wednesday April 23, 2025 in Washington DC, United States of America.
The Acting President and Chairman of US EXIM, Mr. James C. Cruse and Vice President, International Relations, Ms. Isabel Galdiz received the GEXIM delegation, which included Deputy CEO for Banking, Mr. Moses Klu Mensah and Head of International Cooperation, Mr. Jonathan Christopher Koney at the headquarters of US EXIM.
The meeting offered the GEXIM team the opportunity to share the strategic direction of the Bank in line with the resetting agenda of the President of the Republic, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama for the repositioning of the Ghanaian economy into an export-led one by providing the requisite investment to Ghanaian businesses.
Mr. James C. Cruse expressed US EXIM’s eagerness to deepen its existing relations with GEXIM and proposed the signing of a new Cooperative Framework Agreement following the expiration of a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2019 to utilize US EXIM’s medium term loan guarantees to procure machinery by GEXIM for qualified Ghanaian Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).
Mr.Sylvester Mensah thanked the Acting President and Chairman of US EXIM for hosting the GEXIM delegation and reaffirmed the Ghanaian government’s commitment to strengthening trade and investment between Ghana and its global partners for economic transformation of Ghana with GEXIM playing a pivotal role.
The two teams will be meeting on the sidelines of the 2025 US EXIM Annual Conference on 29th and April 30, 2025 to explore possible areas of collaboration and matching Ghanaian businesses to American companies. The meeting ended with an exchange of gifts.
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Many SOEs have been used as mere instruments for personal wealth accumulation –Pres.Mahama
President John Dramani Mahama has expressed concern over the misuse of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) for personal financial gain by individuals in leadership positions.
Speaking during a meeting with Chief Executives of specified entities under the State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA) on Thursday, March 13, the President directly attributed the dire state of SOEs to their leadership, accusing chief executives, management teams, and governing boards of prioritising personal enrichment over organisational efficiency.
He pointed to bloated budgets, unjustified allowances, and unnecessary expenditures as factors draining public funds while SOEs continue to rely on government bailouts.
“Many SOEs have been used as mere instruments for personal wealth accumulation by appointees. The chief executives, management, and boards of these enterprises are responsible for this situation. Some SOEs have become perennial loss-makers, draining public funds with bloated budgets, unjustified allowances, and unnecessary expenditures while relying on government bailouts as if entitled to them. Many of these entities are at their lowest point in the entire history of the Fourth Republic,” he said.
President Mahama further noted that many SOEs have been plagued by inefficiencies, corruption, and mismanagement, leading to consistent financial losses. He cited the 2023 State Ownership Report by the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA), which highlighted systemic inefficiencies and wasteful expenditures within these entities.
He therefore reaffirmed his commitment to reforming under-performing SOEs and ensuring they serve national interests.
He warned that loss-making SOEs will no longer be tolerated and will either be merged, privatised, or closed.
“I will assess you based on your performance. If you do not align with the pace of the reset agenda, you may be asked to step aside. If that adds to the horror movie, so be it,” he added.
Source: Myjoyonline.com
