By Regina Agana Akanteba
The National Commission for Civic Education, NCCE, has reiterated calls for reforms in the 1992 Constitution to help promote participatory democracy and consolidate political gains made so far.
This was made known at a media briefing to mark Constitution Day in Accra. The Chairperson of the NCCE, Kathleen Addy, said the country has enjoyed 30 years of economic gains under the constitutional rule, adding that calls for some areas of the constitution to be amended is in the right direction.
She said research and national dialogue on the issue have been done and the report will be out soon.
According to the Chairperson, Kathleen Addy, NCCE and other organizations have undertaken a number of activities to discuss weaknesses and suggest areas for amendments to the 1992 Constitution.
Madam Addy said though corruption-related activities, political monetization and violent extremism have been a threat to the country’s democracy but the significant gains made cannot overlooked.
This, she said the Commission is liaising with other state institutions to embark on a nationwide programme to sensitize citizens.
” We have a long way to go on our political and economic journey. We have all observed there is room to improve and strengthen our Constitution. The NCCE and many organizations have undertaken activities to discuss the weaknesses and make suggestions of reforms. It is however important to note that debating the weaknesses of our Constitution does not mean that our democracy is flawed and should be jettisoned”, Madam Addy noted.
“The NCCE has already launched the prevention and coordinating violence extremism and will be working in 64 districts in the 5 Northern regions as well Oti and Bono. The focus is to create awareness and educate”, she announced.
The NCCE boss said unemployment and the activities of galamsey are also other emerging factors hindering the country’s democracy and everything must be done to save the situation.
“If we carry on with illegal mining as we are doing now, we will be very soon not far from the wars fought in Sierra Leone and Liberia in the nineties, so Galamsey will eventually lead to breakdown of law and order in the country. As a result of the economic hardships in the country, citizens will begin to feel that the dividend of democracy has eluded them and will resort to non -democratic means of survival”, according to the NCCE Chairperson.
The NCCE said having uninterrupted Constitutional rule for 30 years is a milestone that must be celebrated, recalling the chequered political history with the overthrow of three previous Republican Constitutions, truncated by military interventions.
The Commission’s theme for constitution day is “30 years of Consolidating Constitutional Democracy: Building national cohesion through Civic Education and participation in Local Governance.