A German-based Ghanaian scientist is suggesting that the Constitution should contain a provision that makes it mandatory for the State to acquire at least 33 per cent shares in all strategic areas. These, Dr Michael Kwame Gbordzoe said, should be in areas such as mines, oil deposits, energy, Communication and Information Technology "and others to be clearly defined by national legislation as may be necessary. "In order to safeguard the country's sovereignty and economic viability for generations to come, it is proposed that in entering into economic partnership agreements for development and exploitation of the nation's natural resources, the State of Ghana should, by constitutional regulation, acquire shares in all strategic areas," he argued in a wide range of proposals submitted to the Constitution Review Commission. Dr Gbordzoe's proposals obtained by the GNA said a constitutional provision should also be made for additional shares to be acquired by the Regions in which the resources were exploited and by individual Ghanaians both at home and abroad. He said Region in this context may be represented by the Regional Houses of Chiefs, the Regional Administrations and special Regional Development Banks and Cooperatives working together Dr. Gbordzoe is presently on retirement as Research scientist from the Institute of Physics, University of Würzburg in Germany. Dr Gbordzoe said the sovereignty of the Republic of Ghana must embody the inalienable right of the people of Ghana to pursue and foster the development of science and technology, research and development in all its manifestations and areas for the promotion of the total development of the country and the progress of its people, its continent and entire humanity. "This is with the full realisation that human knowledge is a universal commodity essential for the development and promotion of human civilisation and culture, and not a monopoly of any particular continent, country or race. "As a consequence, education and access to modern education must be a right for all citizens to be embedded in the national constitution." Dr Gbordzoe said in order "to strengthen the defence capacity, capability and readiness of the nation and promote general discipline in the society", the constitution of the Republic of Ghana should provide for the introduction of compulsory military training for all young men and women after having acquired a requisite educational background, possibly equivalent to the grade of Senior/Junior High School. He said the Constitution should ensure that vital agricultural land, forests, forests reserves, natural water resources and the like remain in Ghanaian hands. Dr Gbordzoe cautioned that the "large scale acquisition of agricultural land by foreigners in a way that promoted the taking over of native lands by white settler communities in South Africa, East Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia and others, led to the dispossession of Africans by minority settler communities with serious political, economic and social consequences should be prevented by the constitution". "Moreover," he said, "the national constitution should protect Ghana's biodiversity and prevent its destruction by the unwarranted introduction of genetically manipulated flora and fauna. Thus, the large scale acquisition of Ghanaian land for the production of genetically modified crops should be banned." Dr Gbordzoe argued that the reviewed Constitution should "clearly prohibit same gender marriage, homosexuality, lesbianism, paedophilic practice, adoption of children in Ghana by same gender couples from outside Ghana and all the social misdeeds associated with these pathological psycho-neurological manifestations". Referring to the position of Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, it was imperative that the Constitution should at all cost separate the position of the Attorney-General from the office of the Minister of Justice. "This would make it easier to lay a better practical foundation for the separation of the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary in Ghana. The State Attorney's Department must be an independent body." Dr Gbordzoe called for a "Bill of Rights for Clients" for citizens in their capacity as clients when they sought and used legal service or were legally represented by lawyers, solicitors, notaries, attorneys and similar professionals. "This implies that lawyers and the like representing Ghanaian clients would be bound by certain agreements and legal documents stating clearly their responsibilities vis-à-vis the responsibilities and rights of their clients. "This Bill of Rights will also stipulate a framework of indices for charges demanded by lawyers for various types of representations. The Bill of Rights would also seek to prevent lawyers from representing clients in cases where they have no legal competence. It would also touch on the consequences in situations where lawyers take money from clients but fail to pursue the cases to their logical end. "This Bill of Rights would also seek to regulate the role of attorneys and law enforcement agents in order to streamline the delivery of justice and fight corruption in the legal system." Dr Gbordzoe called for a Constitutional limit on foreign loans, grants and debts, arguing that it is absolutely essential that the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana imposes a limit on the amount of loans taken by any Government in power in relation to Ghana's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Gross National Product (GNP). "The reviewed constitution should stipulate that the country's loans, debts and interests thereon should at no time exceed 10 per cent of our GDP and or GNP. " Dr Dbordzoe also called for "compulsory and transparent records at every stage", documenting the extents to which the loans and grants taken have been "effectively and efficiently" disbursed or used for the purposes for which they had been acquired. "In addition, direct financial contributions from these donors to our national budget should be banned. These are designed to perpetuate the dependence of the economies of sub-Saharan African countries on these 'donor countries' in order to ensure the unhindered exploitation of Africa's industrial raw materials and to sustain a political clientele in sub-Saharan African countries subservient to the dictates of these donors." He called for Constitutional guarantee for national records, saying it should stipulate the duty of keeping national records. "The destruction of official documents and records of sitting on previous governments from any source, or an inducement to destroy or manipulate official records, would be a criminal act. "The wilful burning of books and destruction of official documents and similar materials as happened after the overthrow of the Government of the First Republic in 1966 should be prohibited." Dr Gbordzoe said for a presidential candidate to be declared winner of an election, he/she must win at least a certain minimum number of Regions in the country as a whole. "This regulation would hold independent of whether the candidate has 50 per cent plus one of the popular votes in three Regions. For example, he or she must win at least 4 Regions +33 per cent of a 5th Region. In the absence of this, there should be a mediation process and negotiations with the view to reaching a power sharing agreement between the two leading candidates." Dr Gbordzoe proposed that the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana should make a provision for a Judicial Oath to be recited and signed in court by all Judges, Justices and the like before they sit on every case. "They would swear by the Bible or Koran and or traditional religions depending on their religious affiliation. A similar oath of allegiance should be sworn by all employees of Public Institutions in Ghana at all levels before they assume duty." Source: GNA