President Akufo-Addo has indicated that although Ghana’s 1992 republican constitution is not a perfect document, it has served us well.
The president, delivering his last State of the Nation address on Tuesday, February 27, 2024, described the Constitution as a sacred document that must not be tampered with.
To him, the Constitution has served the country over the past 32 years since it came into existence.
He said we can amend or review it to suit our changing needs and circumstances.
“Speaker, it is not a perfect document, Constitutions do not ever pretend to be; but it has served us well these past thirty-two (32) years, considering where we have come from. It is a sacred document that should not be tampered with lightly, but, I hasten to add, our Constitution did not descend from heaven, we, Ghanaians, drew it up to serve our needs, and we can amend it to suit our changing needs and circumstances. We should work towards finding a consensus on the changes that the majority of Ghanaians want made to the Constitution.”
He also posited that democracies are established on the holding of credit, and free and fair elections.
“Mr Speaker, democracies are founded on elections, and the holding of free and credible elections ensure that people have confidence in the government that emerges at the end of the process.
The Honourable Members of this House, who are at the centre of it all, know more than the rest of us that this is an election year. The increased decibel level in all communications would ensure that even the most politically uninterested person among us would know that, on December 7, we shall be going to the polls to elect a new President and Members of Parliament.”
To the Electoral commission, he said “A lot of the responsibility lies on the Electoral Commission to put the organisation in place that would ensure that we have credible elections. Government is doing its part to make the work of the Electoral Commission go smoothly.”
To the political parties, he said “A lot of responsibility lies on the political parties as well, and I hope that the parties recognise that their credibility is also on the line, with some people wanting to undermine the multi-party democratic system of government. It is up to the parties to demonstrate that competitive elections are an honourable, character enhancing experience, and, at the end of the process, the loser will congratulate the winner, and the world does not come to an end because an election has been lost.
There is nothing inherently dirty or corrupt about politics, and nothing about elections that should generate violence. We, who are in politics and we who are members of political parties, owe it to ourselves, the institutions we claim to belong to, and, above all, we owe it to Ghana and the people of Ghana to make politics and elections the serious and joyful phenomenon they should be.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
