Long Live Our 4th Republic

Since Ghana gained political independence from our colonial master-Britain, it must be stated that as a people we have had four republics. The three that came before the Fourth Republic were all truncated by coup d’états.

These were the First Republic (1960) where Ghana’s first and constitutionally elected President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah; Second Republic (1969-1972) with Dr Kofi Abrefa Busia as the Prime Minister and the Third Republic which saw the election of Dr Hilla Limann of the People’s National Party (PNP) from 1979-1981.

The fact is that these three republics had their positives and negatives. However, the key thing is that was that their existence were shortened by coup d’états which did not help matters as they contributed largely to retarding our progress.

It was therefore, no surprise that on January 7, 1993 Ghanaians, once again, accepted constitutional democracy which saw the birth of the Fourth Republic (1992 Constitution) And January 7, 2018 marked 25 years since the inception of the 4th Republican Constitution.

Thus as we celebrate 25 years of constitutional rule, Today seizes the chance to commend all who have played key roles in safeguarding our constitutional rule. And though the Fourth Republic has come to stay, it is important to acknowledge the efforts and achievements of our forebears, who without their contributions, we would not have reached this point in our history.

We must all share in this great feat. It is no mean a small achievement for an African country such as ours to achieve 25 years of stable constitutional democracy. We must point out that our collective effort is what has brought us this far.

Of course we cannot say that our constitutional democracy has been a smooth one. Obviously, there have been some rough edges which need to be smoothened. It is still a learning process and we can only but improve upon it and make it a vibrant democracy where the rule of law will indeed reign supreme.

Today must admit that it is a good thing that the three former Presidents—Jerry John Rawlings, John Agyekum Kufuor, John Dramani Mahama—all participated in the silver jubilee celebration which was held at the Independence Square, Accra on Sunday, January 7, 2018. That indeed sends a strong signal that we are all one people and that if we come together we can achieve economic prosperity.

On that score we want to pat the Akufo-Addo administration, once again, for bringing together our three living ex-presidents to share in this great achievement. We believe that no matter our political colours we should be able to come together and contribute our quotas towards making Ghana great and strong.

Therefore, we must all do our bid to ensure that the 1992 Constitution is made vibrant one which will be the envy of the world.