Let’s commit to constitutional reforms — IDEG
The Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG) has called for a nationally driven consensus on constitutional reforms to safeguard Ghana’s democratic future.
It explained that constitutional reforms were necessary to protect and strengthen Ghana’s democratic prospects.
This was contained in a statement signed by its Executive Director, Dr Emmanuel Akwetey, to mark Constitution Day, which fell on January 7, 2026 and marked Ghana’s 34th consecutive year of stable democratic governance and one year since President John Dramani Mahama was sworn into office and launched the “Reset Agenda.”
Protracted reform
It noted that despite the stability under the Fourth Republic, Ghana’s constitutional reform process had remained protracted and inconclusive for more than a decade.
It noted that four successive governments between 2012 and 2020 had been unable to implement the reforms, largely due to weak national consensus and the absence of a permanent and independent institutional framework to oversee implementation.
The statement said the delays were occurring against a backdrop of democratic regression in West Africa, declining confidence in multi-party democracy, rising support for military rule and growing youth disenchantment over the perceived unresponsiveness of democratic governance.
Those developments, it said, threatened Ghana’s democratic consolidation and its role as a democratic anchor in the sub-region.
CRC Report
The statement said the submission of the Constitution Review Committee’s report presented a critical opportunity to reset Ghana’s governance architecture, commending both the committee for its work and President Mahama for ensuring the report’s immediate public release.
It said as the country marked Constitution Day 2026, lessons from past reform efforts should guide a renewed commitment to building a broad national consensus for implementing long-overdue reforms.
It noted that safeguarding Ghana’s democracy required collective dedication to good governance, inclusion and justice, while rejecting divisive politics in favour of nation-building.
The statement recalled President Mahama’s New Year address when he said, “governments do not build nations alone; they do that with their citizenry… and the challenges we face are too urgent and the opportunities before us are too precious for us to waste time and energy on needless conflict.”
It acknowledged that the government had, over the past year, made progress in stabilising the macroeconomic environment, rebuilding investor confidence and initiating measures to strengthen governance systems, reflecting efforts to rebuild national trust, enhance institutional accountability and promote civic inclusion.
