President Akufo-Addo, Speaker, CJ to speak at GIMPA Law Conference on 30 years of 1992 constitution

The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the Speaker of Parliament, Alban S K Bagbin, and the Chief Justice of the Republic, Justice Kwasi Anin- Yeboah, will take turns to address the 2023 edition of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) Law Conference.

The theme of the law conference is “The 1992 Constitution @ 30: Taking Stock, Assessing Progress and Reflecting on the Future”. It will take place over a period of three days, starting on 14 March and ending on 16 March 2023.

Essentially, the conference will provide a platform for discussions relating to the 1992 Fourth Republican constitution, 30 years after its adoption by the people of Ghana.

Conference rationale/speakers

Confirming dates for the conference, the dean of the GIMPA Faculty of Law, Kwaku Agyeman-Budu, noted that, “The 1992 constitution has been Ghana’s longest-lasting constitution and even though democratic rule under this current constitution has not been a panacea to all our problems and challenges, it has nonetheless given us the most stable period in our political history.

“The 7 January this year was exactly 30 years since the coming into force of the 1992 constitution, under which we have had eight general elections, leading to the handing over of power from one democratically elected government to another on three different occasions, that is, in 2001, 2009 and 2017,” Dr Agyeman-Budu said.

“His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the President of the Republic of Ghana, is the keynote speaker at the opening ceremony of the conference on Tuesday 14 March 2023 at 9am at the GB Auditorium at GIMPA.

“We are also expecting the Right Honourable Alban S K Bagbin, Speaker of Parliament, and His Lordship Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah, Chief Justice of Ghana, to be the main speakers on 15 and 16 March, respectively,” Agyeman-Budu added.

Pivotal areas of interest

Agyeman-Budu said that the conference will provide an opportunity for all key stakeholders of Ghana’s constitutional dispensation “to meet in a collegial environment and share, debate and interrogate their ideas leading to concrete resolutions and proposals with regard to the future of the 1992 constitution, 30 years after its adoption”.

“To this end, some of the issues to be discussed will include, but are not limited to, the following: a critical examination of the Constitution Review Commission report of 2011 and the government white paper of 2012, supremacy of the constitution, interpretation, enforcement and defence of the constitution and structure of the governance system.

“Other areas of possible consideration will include citizenship, fundamental human rights and freedoms and constitutional rights, reviewing the mandates of independent constitutional bodies, financial management under the constitution, local government and decentralisation and indemnity provisions of the constitution,” said Agyeman-Budu.

Panel discussions

The three-day programme will offer panel discussions on several topics. The first panel will look at “Thirty Years of Multiparty Democracy: Challenges and Prospects”.

It will be moderated by Dr Enam Antonio, a lecturer in the GIMPA Faculty of Law. The panellists will include Professor H Kwasi Prempeh, executive director of CDD, Dennis Adjei Dwommoh, managing attorney with Law Plus, and Nicholas Lenin Anane of Akufo-Addo, Prempeh & Co.

Panels two and three (which will run concurrently) will consider “The Economy and Financial Management in Ghana” since 1993 and the “Impact of the 1992 Constitution on the Socio-Economic Development of Ghana”.

Panel two will be moderated by Ferdinand Adadzi, a senior lecturer in the GIMPA Faculty of Law and the panel members will include Clement Kojo Akapame, also a senior lecturer at GIMPA Law Faculty, Dr Stephen Amoah, the MP for Nyhiaeso, and Jesse Heymann, who is an associate with Koranteng & Koranteng Legal Advisors.

Panel three will be moderated by Dr Kwabena Oteng Acheampong, a GIMPA Law Faculty lecturer, and will feature Reginald Nii Odoi, assistant state attorney in the Office of the Attorney General and Ministry of Justice, Edmund Nelson Amasah, of the Faculty of Law at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Alexander Hackman-Aidoo, a Lecturer in the Faculty of Law at the University of Cape Coast, and Diana Asonaba Dapaah, a deputy attorney general of Ghana and deputy minister of justice, as members of the panel.

Other experts in various fields will join in discussions looking at other topics such as “Parliament is a Master of its own Rules, but the Constitution is a Master of all Rules: An Examination of the Decision in the Justice Abdulai versus the Attorney General Case”, and “Management of Natural Resources under the 1992 Constitution”.

Other themes up for discussion on days two and three of the conference will be: “Women’s Rights and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities”, “Constitutional Review and Amendment of the 1992 Constitution”, “Interpretation and Enforcement of the 1992 Constitution” and “Contribution of the Judiciary to Constitutional Development Since 1993”.

Wilberforce Asare

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