{"id":108499,"date":"2025-12-26T03:18:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-26T03:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=108499"},"modified":"2025-12-26T03:18:00","modified_gmt":"2025-12-26T03:18:00","slug":"ghanas-democratic-debate-is-too-insular-and-afraid-of-change-constitution-review-chair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=108499","title":{"rendered":"Ghana\u2019s democratic debate is too insular and afraid of change \u2013 Constitution Review Chair"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>2 Minute, 38 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
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Chairman of the Constitution Review Committee, Prof Henry Kwasi Prempeh, says Ghana\u2019s democratic debate has become too insular and overly fearful of change.<\/p>\n

He warns that the country often resists workable reforms simply because they challenge the status quo.<\/p>\n

Speaking on Joy News on December 25, Prof Prempeh said many of Ghana\u2019s democratic challenges persist because the country allows them to continue. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s because we allow it, we allow campaigning 24\/7 over four years. I mean, we allow it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He argued that Ghana\u2019s approach to elections is not inevitable and is far from global practice. Drawing on his experience in the sub-region, he recounted a visit to Senegal ahead of its last election. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe were in Senegal before their last election,\u201d he said, adding that one thing stood out immediately. \u201cNo billboards. You will see, no posters, nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to him, the reason was simple. \u201cThe election season had not opened so that you couldn\u2019t mount billboards,\u201d he said, even though the polls were barely a month away.<\/p>\n

Prof Prempeh explained that these rules did not cripple political parties. \u201cAs a party, you could always do your things in-house, things to prepare for an election,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

However, he noted that outdoor activities such as rallies, posters and jingles were regulated. \u201cThose can be easily regulated,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He rejected claims that regulating the campaign period would disadvantage politicians. \u201cSo if we say that the season, it doesn\u2019t mean that we are handicapping politicians,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re saying that you cannot be doing your things as a party to get yourself organised.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prof Prempeh said resistance to such ideas often reflects Ghana\u2019s inward-looking mindset. \u201cI think the pushback against an idea should also look at it as we are part of a global community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He questioned why reforms that work elsewhere are quickly dismissed in Ghana, citing the example of local governance in Sierra Leone. <\/p>\n

\u201cHow is it working that the mayor of Sierra Leone, for example, of Freetown, is elected on a party ticket, and she\u2019s from one party and the president of another party, they are coexisting, it\u2019s working,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Prof Prempeh said similar arrangements are often rejected outright in Ghana. \u201cIn Ghana, people would say, \u2018Oh, but it\u2019s not going to work with NPP and NDC,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He suggested that such thinking assumes Ghana is fundamentally different. \u201cYou think that we are like from a different planet,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

According to him, this mindset limits democratic progress. \u201cSo this insularity sometimes causes us to just, you know, box ourselves into a situation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He warned that Ghana risks becoming trapped by existing arrangements. \u201cAs if the status quo captures us, and we can\u2019t free ourselves from it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Prof Prempeh insisted that change is both possible and proven. \u201cSo it is not true that you cannot have, you know, an election calendar that says campaigning cannot go on until the day,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He stressed that such systems are not theoretical. \u201cIt happens in many countries,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Ghana\u2019sChairman of the Constitution Review Committee, Prof Henry Kwasi Prempeh, says Ghana\u2019s democratic debate has become too insular and overly fearful of change.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14303,1969,1883,10,9,14501],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-constitution-review-committee","category-hp-news-3","category-national","category-politics","category-popular","category-prof-h-kwasi-prempeh"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=108499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108499\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=108499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=108499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=108499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}