A private legal practitioner lawyer Kofi Bekai has opined that the suggestions for Ghana to totally scrap its current constitution and opt for a new one would be an expensive venture for the country.
He was however quick to add that “although it is expensive it does not mean we can not do it”.
The lawyer believes we can rather focus on identifying areas in the current one where we believe we have problems and review them.
He noted that the country spent over Ghc2 million in establishing a committee to embark on a constitutional review under the era of late Mills.
In his view, we could identify the areas where we have problems with and mandate parliament to work on it or establish another committee to embark on a constitutional review.
He opined that 29 years is not enough to say that the current constitution was old and needed to be overhauled.
He was speaking on Nyankonton Mu Nsem on Rainbow Radio 87.5Fm.
“We cannot change the entire constitution and opt for a new one. We can identify ways to review the entrenched positions or the areas we have problems with. We can do the review in bits and pieces,” he suggested.
Meanwhile, he has asked Ghanaians to be responsible citizens, respect the rule of law and protect the sanctity of the constitution.
He explained that the constitution has ensured that Ghana has a stable democracy, with the rule of law in place.
He said the fundamental rights of people must be respected always, with everyone having access to equal justice, and when they offend the law, they must be allowed to defend themselves.
“Once there is the rule of law, we have to be proud as Ghanaians. We also have the responsibility to respect the laws of Ghana. That alone makes the constitution supreme.”
He stressed, “I don’t believe there is an extreme situation that requires that we change the current constitution entirely. But we can review the areas where we think there are challenges”.
Lawyer Bekai underscored the need for every citizen to protect the constitution from people who wants to undermine it.
He said the constitution day which is marked on January 7 required that we become law-abiding citizens, pay our taxes, avoid lawlessness and be responsible for what we do.
To the government, he urged them to do their part by providing the needed resources for our state institutions to function and protect the rights of the citizens.
He added ” the government has a responsibility in protecting the people, provide them the opportunity to seek justice when their rights are abused. Government must be transparent, accountable to the people, and not breach their oath of office. The constitution is premised on probity, accountability, transparency and unity, and stability of our nation. That is what our leaders must do.”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
