Lawyer and activist Oliver Barker-Vormawor says Ghana’s constitutional reform process cannot be driven through by one political party, stressing the need for broad consensus among stakeholders.
Mr Barker-Vormawor, who was recently appointed Secretary of the Constitution Review Implementation Committee (CRIC), said the committee’s role is to provide technical support rather than determine which proposals should become law.
“Our brief is clear. It was made clear to us that we are not another post-Prempeh committee tasked with taking policy positions. It’s not a policy body; it’s a technical body supposed to move along what the political process settles,” he said.
Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on Tuesday, he said the committee would have to listen to the various position papers and views emerging from stakeholders and relay them to government.
He said the committee could also facilitate discussions among stakeholders, as needed, to help build consensus around the reform process.
“Maybe we’re going to convene conversations among the different stakeholders so that there might be some consensus generated,” he said.
Mr Barker-Vormawor said the numbers required in Parliament and for a referendum made consensus essential.
“You can’t have a process which you will bulldoze your way through. It requires constant conversations. It requires constant agreement and compromises along the way,” he said.
“So, this is not a, you know, a one-party project. It has to be something that all the stakeholders agree as to the plan for reform.”
He stressed that the committee would not decide which proposals ultimately make it into constitutional amendment bills.
“The key decision-making as to what proposals go and end up in the bills is beyond our pay grade. That’s not our decision to make,” he said.
“I mean, we have elected members of Parliament for a reason. We have political parties that seek a mandate for reasons. They are the voices that will direct how our way of work will go. We are essentially clay in their hands.”
The 11-member CRIC was inaugurated on August 28 by Attorney-General and Minister of Justice Dominic Ayine. It is chaired by Presidential Legal Counsel and former Attorney-General Marietta Agyeiwaa Brew.
The committee is tasked with examining the government’s position paper alongside the report of the Constitution Review Committee chaired by Professor H. Kwesi Prempeh and developing a framework for implementing the accepted proposals.
Explaining his role, Mr Barker-Vormawor compared the committee’s work to that of the Electoral Commission or a midwife.
“The midwife does not determine the sex of the baby, doesn’t determine the, you know, colour of the baby. You just deliver the process,” he said.
“So, we are delivering what the political process puts in our hands to deliver. We can’t change, you know, one black hair to grey.”
