Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Dr Dominic Akuritinga Ayine, has inaugurated an 11-member Constitution Review Implementation Committee (CRIC) tasking them to prepare the first set of constitutional amendment Bills by November 2026.
The committee, chaired by former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong, was inaugurated on Friday, August 28, to begin the process of putting the government’s approved recommendations from the Constitution Review Committee(CRC) into concrete legislative proposals.
Speaking at the inauguration, Dr Ayine said the committee had been given a deliberately time-bound mandate to ensure that the constitutional reform process progresses without unnecessary delays.
“Your task is deliberately bipartisan and deliberately time-bound,” he told members of the committee.
According to the Attorney-General, the first set of amendment Bills, particularly those dealing with non-entrenched provisions of the 1992 Constitution, must be ready to be laid before Parliament by November 2026.
He said some of the proposed constitutional amendments could subsequently be subjected to a referendum alongside the 2027 District Assembly elections.
Dr Ayine explained that government had already issued its position paper on the recommendations of the CRC and had accepted a substantial package of the proposed reforms.
The Attorney-General said the committee would be required to align the recommendations accepted by government with its position paper and previous draft Bills.
He stressed that the committee’s work was important because the recommendations were derived from consultations with Ghanaians across the country.
“What the committee gave us was not a technical document written for lawyers. It was the voice of the Ghanaian people on questions that touch every one of us,” Dr Ayine said.
He therefore urged the committee to approach its mandate with the understanding that the proposed reforms represented citizens’ views on how Ghana’s constitutional and governance arrangements should evolve.
The 11-member committee includes Dr Justice Srem-Sai, Deputy Attorney-General; Thomas Ampem Nyarko, Deputy Finance Minister; former Electoral Commission Chairperson Charlotte Osei; Dr Rainer Akumperigya; Emelia Ankomah; Kwame Ayimadu Antwi; Samuel Passah; Oliver Barker-Vormawor; Salamatu Iliasu; and Eric Owusu-Mensah.
Oliver Barker-Vormawor will serve as Secretary, while Salamatu Iliasu is the Draftsperson.