Togbe Afede XIV, the Agbogbomefia of Asogli, has called for a review of the nation’s Constitution.
He said a lot had changed since the decades-old national guide book was developed, and that its relevance to the present should be taken into account.
Togbe Afede made the call when he chaired a public forum in Ho as part of activities to mark the 30th Anniversary of Parliament.
The Agbogbomefia said the 1992 Constitution should be revised to affect the people in the present disposition within the State policy’s directive principles.
“The Constitution must be changed to respond to changes in our environment. So much has changed – ourselves as a people have changed. Our inability to adjust the Constitution to change is perhaps a failure”.
He however commended strides in democracy, including the successful management of a hung Parliament, and also, increasing women participation, the passage of close to a thousand bills so far.
“30 years of uninterrupted democracy in our part of the world is a great achievement and needs to be celebrated,” he said, commending the Speaker “for taking tremendously bold decisions to make parliament effective against all odds.”
He added that the objective of stock taking by Parliament deserved praise, and that the focus on deepening engagement with citizens, would make the Arm more relevant.
Mr. Alban Bagbin, the Speaker of Parliament, in his address, also asked to support a constitutional review, which he said would pave the way for a national development plan.
He mentioned excessive powers bestowed on the President in the prime document, and said the governance structure needed to be revisited.
“We all must support the revision of the 1992 Constitution. We need to go through it to share and distribute the power.”
He spent time recounting the journey towards the establishment of the fourth republican parliament, and said the people must appreciate the feat of delivering an uninterrupted democratic rule.
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