The 1992 Constitution was made for a dictator, changes long overdue – Adom-Otchere

Journalist Paul Adom-Otchere says the current constitution was put together to serve a military dictator who had agreed to transition to civilian rule, a reference to the first president of the Fourth Republic, Jerry John Rawlings.

Adom-Otchere advanced this view on ‘The Good Evening Ghana’ program he hosted on Tuesday, April 27, 2021; when he presented an analysis of a widely discussed speech titled "Down the Up Escalator" by senior statesman, Sam Jonah.

GhanaWeb monitored his views while commenting on some of the solutions that Sir Jonah proferred to challenges Ghana was currently facing in a speech to Rotarians in Accra. The TV host said Sir Jonah was, however, coming to the party late with respect to limitations of the 1992 constitution.

On Sir Sam Jonah’s core solution that democracy needed to give results and the constitution needed to be changed, Adom-Otchere said: “That is a very powerful statement. We agree with him totally that democracy must deliver something, it must deliver improvement. It is true that Sam Jonah is talking about the constitution quite later in the day.”

He reminded that work has gone on over the years in the area of changing portions of the supreme law, citing the Constitutional Review Commission under President John Evans Atta Mills and proposals by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for political leadership at lower levels to be decentralized with calls for Municipal and District Chief Executives to be voted for along party lines.

“This constitution must change, why must it change? It must change because it was made for a dictator. It must change because it was made to perpetrate a military junta in civilian rule.

“The perpetrators of that are still around. Maybe Sam Jonah should call them by name and shame them. That you did something to Ghana in 1992 and that is reflecting now.

“One of those who were in the Consultative Assembly is called Johnson Asiedu Nketia, he was a member of the Consultative Assembly that wrote this constitution that perpetrated a military junta in office. Today, big men like Sam Jonah agree that the constitution must change,” he stressed.