General News of Saturday, 15 January 2022
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
Ghana needs to develop her own type of democracy
The 1992 Constitution despite its successes is highly deficient
The call for a news Constitution is grounded in failures of the current Constitution
Economic policy analyst and Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors, Senyo Hosi, has outlined factors that have made the call for a new Constitution viable and justifiable.
According to him, a failure to customize Western democracy to fit the specific circumstances of Ghanaians is at the heart of the clamour for a new Supreme legal document.
He advanced the idea of a “Ghanacracy,” where democracy is given a customized outlook to reflect the aspirations of Ghanaians, as a good first step to answering the legitimate demands of the population.
“No governance system is one-size-fits-all. Democracy must, however, be adapted to fit our circumstances. I call that a “Ghanacracy.”
He cited a Supreme Court ruling in which Justice Sowah talked about the Constitution having a life and needing rebirth; “The Constitution is a living organism capable of growth and development as the body politic of Ghana itself is capable of growth and development.”
Hosi continued: “This tells us the democracy of any sovereign is sustainable and potent only to the extent of its flexibility to the evolving circumstances culturally and developmentally of its people. If our democracy is less Ghanacratic and more Americratic, I assure you we are heading for doom.”
He averred that the current democracy had plunged Ghana into a spiral of misgovernance in a manner depleting the hopes of the people. Which spiral he continued had led by non-conformity and legitimate demand for change of the current Constitution.
Hosi on Friday, January 14, 2022, delivered the keynote address at the Constitution Day lecture at the University of Professional Studies-Accra, UPSA. The event was organized by the One Ghana Movement.