<<Print>>

Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, the Majority Leader and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, has said it is time for political parties to strictly align their development agenda with that of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC).

“Their manifestoes should be woven around the overall development aspirations of the nation,” he argued, saying instances where parties took power only to sideline the Commission did not augur well for sustainable socio-economic growth.

The practice has not been helpful to the cause of the nation in terms of continuity and long-term planning in the implementation of policies, programmes and policies.

Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, who was delivering a paper at a public lecture, organised by the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, in Kumasi, contended that, at every point in time, the Commission ought to be the driver of Ghana’s development agenda.

The parties’ vision should not be different from that of the NDPC, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Suame stated.

Speaking on the topic, “Constitutional Review; the Perspective of a Legislator”, Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said multi-party democracy was meant for the wellbeing of the citizenry.

The ultimate aim is to bring improvement in the living conditions of the citizenry in all aspects of their endeavours.

The lecture looked at the question of the need or otherwise for a review of the 1992 Constitution from the perspective of a legislator, and the spectrum for discussion covered the milieu of the crafting of the Constitution.

It considered previous efforts made at amendment, evidence of demands for amendment from prominent Ghanaians, situating the Constitution in the current global and local context, and taking advantage of the opportune time for a review.

A concept note underpinning the lecture said “democracy is an inherently flexible system of government that has an intrinsic capacity to adapt to changing circumstances and priorities”.

The Constitution, which is the anchor of any democracy, must, in that regard, be inherently resilient yet adaptable to remain relevant.

Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu observed that it had been three decades since the Fourth Republican Constitution was promulgated, enduring and serving the nation well.

However, it is imperative that some aspects of the document be looked at critically in order to bring provisions under the Constitution to contemporary democratic practices.

The legislator cited the need to amend the Constitution in order to decouple the Office of the Attorney-General (AG) and that of the Minister of Justice.

That, he explained, would allow the AG to work independently devoid of government influence.

Additionally, there was the need to consider the excessive appointing powers bestowed on the President by the 1992 Constitution, the Majority Leader noted.

According to him, in a situation where the President was mandated to appoint about 5, 000 government officials, including appointees to head state agencies and institutions, was not the best.

Some of these prerogative rights, he said, could be left in the care of Committees and Councils, thereby limiting the President in terms of the frequency with which he could appoint and dismiss appointees.

Touching on the legislature, Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu expressed worry at the way new constituencies were created almost every four years.

He warned that, if care was not taken, it would come at a time when the Parliament House could be overwhelmed by the excessive number of seats with its attendant budgetary cost to the nation.

He also lent his support to calls to reduce the number of Ministers of State drastically, arguing that operating a lean government with a limited competent personnel was what the nation should strive for.

Professor Ellis Owusu-Dabo, the Pro-Vice-Chancellor, KNUST, said the public lecture was meant to serve as a platform for public discourse on issues affecting Ghana’s development and growth.