Special Guest of Honour, Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, past and present Justices of the Supreme Court, for want of time, I humbly request to ride on existing protocols.

I wish to express my most profound gratitude to the UPSA Law School and the board of the OneGhana Movement for the courage in nominating me, ‘a layman’, to deliver this year’s Constitution Day Public lecture.

At my last check, my academic bios had no certificates in law at all. I have been content pursuing a career that has had significant impact on the delivery of critical public services and goods, with degrees in Economic Policy Management, Finance, Psychology and Philosophy from the University of Ghana, the only University I can call my own.

Ladies and gentlemen, my nomination to deliver this year’s lecture is no knock on any person who may be considered more qualified, nor a knock on the legal fraternity. It is rather, a definite knock-on the hedged-in stereotypical thinking that has long held our public space hostage and validated perceptions of constitution capture, largely by lawyers and politicians.

The constitution is no abstract construct analyzable and decodable by a few. It is the codification of what and how “We the people” seek to live and achieve in the governing of self as a sovereign. A constitution enjoys a special place in the life of any nation.

It is the fundamental law of the land serving as the prime document of public policy and impacting all facets of society and life. It is the reflection of the socio-political and socio-economic aspiration of “We the People” and not a given profession.

In the landmark ruling, “Tuffour vs Attorney General” reported in the 1980 Ghana Law Report, our former Chief Justice, E.N.P. Sowah situates the constitution so effectively when he posits, (I quote), “A written Constitution such as ours is not an ordinary Act of Parliament. It embodies the will of a people. It also mirrors their history.