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Safeguarding the tenets and integrity of the 1992 Constitution
A Constitution is a collection of rules and principles setting out how a country or a state can be governed. It provides a framework for all decisions made by every government official particularly, the Executive (President), the Legislature (Parliament) and the Judiciary (Law Courts). It sets out rights of every individual which must be respected by the State, ie, establishing a relationship between the government and the people.
The importance of this special document in nation building cannot be underestimated because it makes sure that those who make decisions on behalf of the people, fairly represent public opinion. Besides, it devises ways in which those who exercise power may be held accountable to the people they serve. The framer of the Constitution make sure that those rights that are enshrined in the document ensure the protection and promotion of human dignity, equality and liberty.
THE 1992 CONSTITUTION AND WHAT IT ENTAILS
Ghana is a Unitary State with a Unicameral Legislature which consists of one House Assembly which legislates and votes as one body. The 1992 Constitution provides for one parliament which exercises all the primary functions. There is a Council of State which is an advisory body to the President. The President may refer bills or even laws to the Council of State for its comments when necessary.
The 1992 Constitution which was drafted and approved in a referendum about 30 years ago (April 28, !992) by the people, guarantees the human rights of all individuals found within the territorial boundaries of Ghana. Chapter 5 of the 1992 Constitution under the title “Fundamental Human Rights and Freedoms” provides for such rights as; Rights to Life, Economic Rights, Women’s Rights, Freedom of Expression, Rights to Work and Education among others.
The three important arms of government, the Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary are the main organs that the constitution has established and these are sources of stability of any country and without them there will be chaos, anarchy and corruption in any society.
30 YEARS OF CONSTITUTIONAL RULE IN GHANA
As a country that has lived and survived the constitution for 30 years without military intervention which had been the norm in the past, we have every right to celebrate this achievement and applaud ourselves for coming this far. Some countries in the African sub-region in recent times, have witnessed some military take-overs from democratic instituted government but we in Ghana, are, indeed, lucky to have a sound democratic governance within this 30 years of constitutional rule. Our immediate neighbours- Mali and Guinea are victims of these military disruptions of democratic governance and are yet to recover and still counting their losses.
Since 2001, the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) a legally mandated institutional body responsible for civic education, has designated the day on which the Constitution was adopted to launch the Constitutional Day which spans for a week. During this period, the NCCE organises series of seminars in schools, offices, public institutions as well as military garrisons across the country to deepen the knowledge and understanding of the Constitution and the need to uphold it.
PRESIDENT NATIONWIDE BROADCAST ON THE CONSTITUTION
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in his nationwide radio and television broadcast recently to mark three decades of the referendum that approved the 1992 Constitution leading to the birth of the Fourth Republic, urged the citizenry to renew their trust in the country’s democratic process and vigilantly protect the Constitution against threats of saboteurs. Hear him, “Thirty years ago today, on 28th April 1992, we Ghanaians took one of the most important decisions of our history. We went to the polls to decide, in a referendum, the nature of the future of governance of our nation – whether to continue to live under military rule or to live under democratic rule. The period leading to that day, had seen the nation sampled all forms of governance known to man before settling on the current democratic system of governance. With the extensive work that led to the birth of the 1992 Constitution, which had led to the Fourth Republic travelling the longest period in the country’s history of governance, it is incumbent on Ghanaians to do everything to protect the Constitution”.
STABLE AND PEACEFUL RULE UNDER THE CONSTITUTION
Indeed, this is a profound and well- thought out statement from a sitting president which calls for support from each and every Ghanaian no matter his or her political affiliation. Let us remember that even though this country is experiencing difficult times which has brought untold hardships on the people, due to a number of factors both within and internationally, we can confidently say that the last three decades under constitutional governance had witnessed peaceful and sustained growth in every aspect of national lives. Just as the President alluded, “Democracy has been good for us” and undoubtedly, under this current democratic rule, the country had also enjoyed equality and respect for human rights and rule of law.
We should not lose sight of the fact that under this Fourth Republic, we have had five presidents with peaceful transfer of power from a governing to opposition party on three separate occasions. On rare occasion when there was disagreement with the outcome of an election, it was the Supreme Court which on two occasions resolved the issue not through confrontations. That, indeed, speaks volume of how we have transitioned with our democratic governance.
MILITARY TAKE-OVERS ARE UNNECESSARY
By this time, we need to understand that no matter how difficult conditions we find ourselves as Ghanaians and the level of hardship we are going through as a result of severe economic conditions in the country we cannot resort to the barrel of the gun in a military take-over to resolve our problems. Military coups are inimical to national progress of any country and can worsen economic crisis and bring untold hardships to the citizenry.
The duties of the military as stated under the law is to ensure internal and external security and also for the total defence of the nation. They are required to defend the territorial integrity of the country by land, sea and air. Under no circumstance should we allow the military to join hands with civilians to destabilise the country and cause chaos, and misery among the people. That will amount to suicide and turn the clock of progress backwards.
Our political leaders must make sure that they confine the military to the barracks and provide them with all the necessary tools, equipment and the needed logistics to carry out their stipulated and assigned mandates as enshrined under the laws of this country so that they will not move out of their comfort zones to join other civilian forces to destabilise the country and throw the Constitution out of gear.
ADHERING TO THE PROVISIONS UNDER THE CONSTITUTION
History has indicated that there had been few instances in which subsequent governments flouted some of the provisions under the Constitution and did things in their own way just to achieve their selfish motives and ambitions. We need to avoid that practice and follow the tenets of the Constitution to the letter in order to maintain peace and tranquility in our dear country.Democratic governance is the best option for us as a country and we need to jealously safeguard this constitutional rule at all cost. Never again should we allow forces of negativity and destruction to influence and compel us to disrupt our constitutional rule and go back to authoritarian military dictatorship which will serve no purpose to our dear country. The clarion call is for Ghanaians to protect and safeguard our constitutional rule for generations unborn.
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By Charles Neequaye