The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has assured
that he will continue to work for an extensive, national consensus to be
reached on the ramifications of Article 55(3) of the Constitution, which
currently bars political parties from involvement in district assembly elections
and local government.
According to President Akufo-Addo, one primary goal of the 1992 Constitution
is to decentralise the structure of governance in Ghana, so that government
would be brought closer to the people, with one fundamental barrier to its
realisation being the repeal of article 55(3).
Addressing the nation on Thursday, 28th April 2022, the day commemorating
the 30th anniversary of the holding of the Referendum, which approved the
1992 Constitution, the President stated that the attempt he made in 2019 to
repeal article 55(3) provision, and allow for the participation of political parties
in local government, was aborted because of the lack of a broad national
consensus, when the opposition NDC signaled its inability to back the repeal.
“It was and continues to be my view that the repeal or modification of an
entrenched clause of the Constitution should attract widespread support to
make it acceptable and healthy for the body politic. We should further bear in
mind the strong attachment of the Ghanaian people to multi-party democratic
elections. On the average, the turn out for national elections in the 4th
Republic has been seventy two percent (72%), one of the highest in the
world, whilst the turn out for the allegedly non-partisan local government
elections has always hovered around thirty percent (30%),” he said.
The President continued, “I have said it before, and I will repeat it.
I will continue to work for an extensive, national consensus on this issue, and
should such a consensus be attained for the repeal of article 55(3) of the
Constitution, and an agreement reached for political parties to participate in
and sponsor candidates for election to district assemblies, at any point during
my remaining tenure of office as President of the Republic, the matter will be
brought back again to the front burner of our public discourse for the
necessary action. I am hoping that, after completing the necessary
consultations, I will, shortly, be in a position to announce a way forward on
this important matter.”
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On the occasion of the 30th anniversary, he reiterated his strong belief in the
values and principles of the Constitution that emerged from the Referendum
and in the indigenous democratic heritage of Ghana, and called on all
Ghanaians, also, to assert vigorously this same belief.
“We should never forget, though, that the Constitution is a “Living
Document”, and, so whenever circumstances require it, we should be
prepared to make the necessary amendments to it to reflect the needs of
contemporary and future times,” the President added.
