Ghana’s Electoral Commission ready for referendum to amend constitution
The Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, says the Commission is ready to run a referendum for the amendment of the 1992 Constitution anytime it is officially informed about the need to do so.
He would, however, not be drawn into giving assurance as to whether the EC could organise a referendum before Election 2012, saying that would depend on when the Constitution Review Commission (CRC) would make recommendations to that effect.
“Until we see what the commission has proposed, it is very difficult to talk about when to run a referendum,” he said in an interview with the Daily Graphic on January 31, 2011.
The CRC has given a hint that Ghanaians are likely to go for a referendum in the second half of this year to amend some provision of the 1992 Constitution ahead of Election 2012.
However, Dr Afari-Gyan said running of a referendum and as to whether it could be held before Election 2012 would depend on recommendations made by the CRC and the time the recommendations were made.
On proposals for a change in the election date to allow for a longer transition period, he said that required just an amendment of the constitution by Parliament, adding, “If Parliament thinks it is a serious matter, it can decide to amend it tomorrow”.
The Executive Secretary of the CRC, Dr Raymond Atuguba, has confirmed to the Daily Graphic that a referendum is very likely given the about 70,000 submissions received from the public so far.
He, however, indicated that the holding of a referendum early depended on the seriousness of the nation, saying, “If we are serious about implementing it, we can do it in the second half of this year”.
Dr Atuguba said the CRC would submit its final report to the President by the end of June this year to allow adequate time for implementation.
He said the commission would also prepare a draft bill on the referendum to Parliament for passage.
Dr Atuguba said all the submissions received would be discussed at the National Constitution Review Conference scheduled for March 2011.
The five-day conference, which is scheduled for March 1, 2011 to March 5, 2011, will climax the consultation process by the CRC to solicit views from Ghanaians, home and abroad, on the review process.
Touching on proposals relating to the election date, he said the CRC had received significant proposals for the election date to be brought backward to August, September, October and November.
He said the general reasoning accompanying the submissions was to allow for a long transition period.
Dr Atuguba said the proposals also supported the current arrangement of holding the presidential and parliamentary elections on the same date. That is because that arrangement was cost effective, apart from ensuring the avoidance of voter fatigue and election boycott.
Giving an update on the “Text-in Question Campaign” launched by the CRC last month to elicit greater public interest in the review process, Dr Atuguba said with 10,000 text messages received in one month, “the initiative has been good”.
He said the CRC had held consultations in Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya, Botswana and South Africa, adding that the feedback from those countries was good.
Dr Atuguba said the commission could not visit Cote d’Ivoire due to the political conflict in that country, and Burkina Faso due to the holding of elections there.
Source: Daily Graphic