Madam Clara Osei-Boateng, a Governance Adviser at the British High Commission, has urged stakeholders to establish a framework that ensures Ghana's ongoing constitutional reform process continues irrespective of changes in government. She made this call at a two-day media engagement on the constitutional reform process in Kumasi, organised by the Citizens' Platform on Constitutional Reforms (CPCR). The engagement aimed to deepen the understanding of the reform process and strengthen the capacity of media practitioners to facilitate informed public participation.
The media engagement brought together practitioners from the Ashanti, Ahafo, Bono, Bono East, Western North, and Central regions. Madam Osei-Boateng expressed concern that failure to establish a framework for continuity could result in the reform process losing momentum with changes in government. She emphasized that constitutional reforms are a national undertaking that should not be interrupted or restarted with changes in political administration.
Madam Osei-Boateng urged stakeholders to critically examine how the process could be sustained to ensure that constitutional reforms are pursued in the long-term national interest. She noted that the question should not simply be whether the country should move the reform process forward, but whether the proposed reforms would adequately address fundamental governance challenges confronting Ghana.
The Governance Adviser expressed concern that public discussions had sometimes concentrated on a few headline proposals, while overlooking other substantive recommendations contained in the Constitutional Review Committee's report. She urged journalists to study the committee's report, the Government's Position Paper, and the Civil Society Organisations' Position Paper to provide citizens with a balanced understanding of the issues.
Madam Osei-Boateng emphasized that the media had a critical role in breaking down the technical issues surrounding constitutional reforms and presenting them in a manner that ordinary citizens could understand. She noted that informed media coverage could also help create public pressure on political leaders to pursue reforms that respond to citizens' concerns.
The constitutional review process is fundamentally about citizens, and therefore, citizens need to be adequately informed and provided with opportunities to influence the outcome. The Citizens' Platform on Constitutional Reforms, convened by the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), STAR-Ghana Foundation, and Democracy Hub, organised the engagement with funding support from the British High Commission.
The engagement is part of efforts to ensure that the constitutional reform process is inclusive and reflects the concerns of citizens. Madam Osei-Boateng's call for a framework to ensure the continuity of the reform process is seen as a crucial step towards achieving this goal. The outcome of the engagement is expected to contribute to a more informed public discourse on the constitutional reform process.
Key points
- Governance Adviser Madam Clara Osei-Boateng calls for a framework to ensure Ghana's constitutional reform process continues despite changes in government.
- The constitutional reform process should address fundamental governance challenges confronting Ghana.
- The media has a critical role in facilitating informed public participation in the constitutional reform process.
