The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin has asserted that the 1992 constitution has allocated too much power to the executive headed by the President.

This he identified as one of the challenges of the 1992 Constitution and indicated it has had an adverse effect on the progress of the country.

He is therefore advocating for an amendment of the Constitution to reflect the current dynamics of democracy.

Mr. Bagbin was speaking at a press soiree with members of the media in the Volta Region at the Volta Serene Hotel in Ho, as part of events to commemorate the 30th anniversary celebration of Parliament.

The Speaker indicated that it would take a holistic effort to effect an amendment to reduce the powers of the President as it is part of entrenched Constitutional provisions and can't be amended by parliament.

“The framers of the 1992 constitution decided to preserve some provisions, unfortunately, these are some of the provisions that were preserved. Parliament cannot on its own amend them. They can only be amended through a referendum, where you go to the people to be the ones to change that.”

He decried how a move by the late President John Evans Attah Mills to have the provision amended stalled due to a nonconsensus from the two leading political parties, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

“You recall during the time of the late President J.E.A Mills, the process was started. One of the challenges that we had was that they said it shouldn't have been initiated by the government, with the white paper issue, which meant that we were taking entrenched positions. And so, the other party did not support it. And really as I said you need a certain percentage of voters. If you don't get the parties working together, you can't have that exercise”, he explained.

Mr. Bagbin, however, indicated that efforts are underway to initiate a move to amend the entrenched provision that allocates the President “too much power”, and is optimistic it could take effect after the 2024 general elections.

He also lamented the inability of the Legislative and the media to effectively deliver their accountability roles due to the lack of funds and unfavorable working conditions.

He called on the media front to stand up and fight for their rights and advocate for better working conditions, to enable them diligently deliver their roles to ensure effective governance.