.....Retired Judge Calls For Constitutional Amendments

A retired Supreme Court Judge, Mr. Justice N.Y.B. Adade has called for a proper interpretation of the constitutional provision on the tenure of office of the President. He said the provisions leaves unanswered whether “the President is only entitled to a two-term at a stretch and then banned forever, or he should come back for other terms, provided there is a break after a period of say four to eight years."

The retired judge cautioned that if this issue is not dealt with decisively now, it would be at the country’s peril since “it has the potential to set the country ablaze sooner than we may think.” He observed that because of its apparent simplicity, the meaning of the “two terms” is likely to escape attention.

Justice Adade made these known when he delivered a paper on “Agenda for reform of the constitution: some policy considerations” during activities to mark this year’s martyrs day which is commemorated yearly in honour of the three judges who were murdered on June 30, 1982.

Justice Adade also commented on provisions relating to council of state, chieftaincy institutions, and civic education among others. On chiefs he said the restrictions on chiefs not to participate in active politics runs counter to certain provisions like the right to form or join a political party.

“The claim that the involvement of chiefs in politics will dismember the traditional areas to me, is not sufficiently enough as we pretend it is. Our problem seems to be that we have copied our political institutions from people who have no chiefs. The result is that our chiefs have become a surplus group of people to our political arrangements, and we are confronted with a problem of what to do with them,” he noted.

Justice Adade therefore recommended that the leadership of the Ghana Bar Association should be at the forefront of an agenda to effectively discuss possible amendments to the constitution.