MP Calls For Intensive Public Education Prior To Referendum

The Member of Parliament for the Zebilla Constituency in the Upper East Region, Mr Cletus Avoka, has charged his fellow parliamentarians to eschew partisanship and approach the constitution review process with circumspection when it comes to the House for debate. The former majority leader also asked the members of Council of State to use their rich experience and knowledge to augment the process. Mr Avoka was speaking at a dialogue meeting on the constitutional review process organised by the Ghana Catholic Bishop Conference (GCBC) and the National Catholic Secretariat (NCA) in Accra. The two bodies met in order to be able to assess their progress in their effort to influence the outcome of the constitution review as well as redouble their efforts to fully realise the GCBC full expectation from the review. Some of the proposals the GCBC presented for amendment included fixed national development plan in the constitution abolishing death penalty and reforms to strengthen the national institutions, together with systems to reduce the bribery and corruption in the country. However, at the time, while some members of the public, including the economic affairs, the Ghana Trades Union Congress and the Christian Council, disagreed with the fast pace of work and urged the Constitution Review Implementation Committee to slow down, others are also insisting Parliament delays with the process. Mr Avoka then further educated the gathering on the amendment stages of both entrenched clauses and the normal, and was of the view that a lot of public education is required to generate interest among the public. Mr Samuel Zan Akologo, the executive secretary of the National Catholic Secretariat, called for a more definite timetable in future. The Ghana Catholic Bishop Conference was launched in November 2012 together with the Right to Health Campaign, with joint effort aimed at realising one�s specific dimension of the economic, social and cultural rights in the constitution.