Former Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo has called for stronger constitutional safeguards to prevent excessive concentration of power in the hands of the President.
She said that while the President must be given sufficient authority to govern, those powers should be exercised within clearly defined constitutional limits.
“Presidents should have powers, but they cannot be unfettered powers,” she said.
According to her, Ghana’s democratic system requires more effective checks and balances to ensure that none of the three arms of government operates without adequate oversight.
She stressed that a clearer enforcement of the separation of powers would help strengthen democratic governance.
Sophia Akuffo also believes the experience of operating the 1992 Constitution over the years has exposed several weaknesses that require attention.
She argued that addressing those gaps is necessary if Ghana is to build a more sustainable democratic system and restore public confidence.
“In many ways, our Constitution has worked out for us over the years of its existence; it has created a lot of anomalies which we must correct to move our democracy on to the next level for sustainability because people are getting fed up,” she said.
Speaking on Channel One TV on Wednesday, September 2, 2026, the former Chief Justice and Fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) said constitutional reforms should focus on establishing stronger guardrails around the exercise of presidential power and ensuring effective checks among the three arms of government.
