Martin Amidu, President Mahama and Prof Henry Kwasi Prempeh
A former Attorney General and a founding member of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Martin Amidu, has accused the NDC government of risking its future by appointing Professor Henry Kwasi Prempeh as Chairman of the Constitutional Review Committee (CRC).
In an opinion piece dated May 5, 2025, Martin Amidu claimed the NDC has “chosen to utilize the four-year term of President John Dramani Mahama to sup with the devil” through Prof Kwasi Prempeh’s leadership, alleging he is pushing a covert anti-NDC agenda.
Amidu, a former Special Prosecutor, further criticised Prof Kwasi Prempeh’s role as Executive Director of the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), which he describes as historically opposed to the NDC and its predecessor, the PNDC.
He warned that Prof Prempeh’s calls to reform the Council of State, as reported in his public commentaries, aim to amend Chapter 9 of the 1992 Constitution and potentially entrenched provisions, risks a referendum that could spell “John Dramani Mahama’s waterloo” in 2028.
While quoting some of Prof Kwasi Prempeh’s public statements on the need to reform the Council of State, Martin Amidu argued that it is a pretext for ideological reforms, noting the CDD boss’s past silence on the Council of State’s role while serving under the NPP’s Akufo-Addo administration.
“The problem is not with the constitution or the Council of State. The problem is with We the People, particularly the educated and enlightened political elite,” Amidu wrote.
Contrary to assertions by Prof Prempeh, Amidu defended the Council of State as a vital advisory body, while accusing Prof Prempeh of hypocrisy for accepting an Akufo-Addo appointment while now criticising the council’s structure.
The former Attorney General also cautioned the NDC by invoking proverbs like “a leopard never changes its spots” and warned that “As the 2028 elections beckon, one should remember that history may not repeat itself but it rhymes.”
Professor Henry Kwasi Prempeh, a legal scholar and Executive Director of the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), was appointed by President John Dramani Mahama on January 19, 2025, to chair the Constitutional Review Committee (CRC).
The eight-member committee, inaugurated on January 30, 2025, was tasked with reviewing Ghana’s 1992 Constitution, identifying gaps from previous reviews (2010 and 2023), engaging stakeholders, and recommending amendments to enhance democratic governance within five months.
Professor Kwasi Prempeh, following his appointment, lauded President Mahama’s decision as a signal of a commitment to impartial reforms and described as statesmanlike on the part of the president to appoint him, a non-NDC member and vocal critic of the president’s prior administration.
GA/AE
