Senyo Hosi calls for urgent constitutional reforms
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors, Senyo Hosi has signaled the urgent need for reforms in the country’s constitution.
As the main speaker for the 2021 Constitutional Day Public lecture on the topic “Avoiding the impending death of the 1992 Constitution”, Mr. Hosi argued that the Constitution, in its current form, encourages corruption.
“Needless to say, our constitution created a President [who], for want of a better expression, [is] a ‘democratic dictator’. Respectfully, while the crafters of the constitution may have considered this structure necessary for a smooth transition from military rule to democracy, it has become the bedrock of our problems. This structure has created a winner-take-all system that has ensured an adversarial democracy (an unending NDC vs. NPP war) and not a consensual democracy.“
“The truth that ought to be told is this: corruption is the currency for our democracy. Do not be fooled, under this constitution, corruption will go nowhere. It is what keeps the wheels of our democracy moving.”
“No wonder that the corruption perception index has grown from 33 in 1998 to 43 in 2020. The last Afrobarometer survey, for 2019, reported that 53% of the population believe corruption increased in the previous year. To make matters worse, over 80% of respondents believe that all three arms of government are totally or partly corrupt. This is dangerous, especially when the Judiciary is seen equally as corrupt,” he added.
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He proposed a new democracy, a consensual democracy and not an adversarial democracy.
“A democracy of a loser-wins-some and not a winner-takes-all; a democracy that makes politics a call and moment of service and not a career of total economic dependence; a democracy that promotes the strengthening of our institutions and reflects the inclusiveness of our people and professionals; a democracy in which being out of government means nothing to your economic sustainability. Ladies and Gentlemen, a democracy that promotes meritocracy [is what we must practice in this country].”
He said the country would need three broad interventions “to enable us to avoid the risk of the death of our constitution.”
“These recommendations are not thought of as sacrosanct; they are aimed at provoking thoughts and debate on options to develop the democracy we need.”
The three recommendations he stated are as below.
A. Urgent constitutional reform to reflect the democracy we need. He proposed what he termed a 7D reform of the Constitution – some of which are covered in various forms in the Constitutional Review Commission report of 2011.
B. Establishment and Management of a bipartisan national economic development agenda – One owned by all stakeholders.
C. Re-conscientization of the Ghanaian with the values needed for our social and economic transformation.
