Victoria Asumin (seated 1st from right) with facilitators and the media
The media has been urged to intensify public education on Ghana’s ongoing constitutional reform process to enable citizens to understand, interrogate and participate meaningfully in the proposed changes.
Victoria Asumin of the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Team of Amnesty International made the call on Tuesday, September 29, at a two-day media engagement on constitutional reforms in Kumasi.
The programme, organised by the Citizens’ Platform on Constitutional Reforms (CPCR), brought together media practitioners and civil society organisations to examine the recommendations of the Constitution Review Committee, the Government’s position and proposals from civil society groups.
Ms. Asumin said the constitutional reform process had moved beyond the stage of making recommendations and was now at the critical implementation stage, requiring a clear roadmap to guide the process.
She said civil society organisations were therefore advocating the passage of a Constitutional Reform Implementation and Roadmap Act to define what should be done, which institutions should be responsible and when each stage should be completed.
According to her, such a framework would also provide timelines for public consultations, preparation of legislation, parliamentary consideration, civic education and referendums where required.
206 Proposals
Ms. Asumin said the eight-member Constitution Review Committee, chaired by Professor H. Kwesi Prempeh, submitted its final report to the President on February 10, 2026, containing 206 proposals.
She explained that 149 of the proposals sought amendments to existing constitutional provisions, while 59 were entirely new provisions.
The committee, she said, conducted 10 thematic stakeholder engagements, received more than 500 expert and practitioner inputs, reached over 21,500 people and received 785 written submissions.
She said the review was intended to make constitutional governance more effective for national development while protecting Ghana’s democratic gains.
Five-Year Term
Touching on some of the major recommendations, Ms. Asumin said the committee had proposed a five-year presidential term instead of the current four-year tenure.
She clarified that the proposal did not introduce a third presidential term and noted that the Government had accepted the five-year presidential tenure.
The reforms also cover presidential appointments, Parliament, local government, natural resources and public finances, independent constitutional institutions, political parties and elections, the Judiciary and accountability, as well as national development planning.
Not Yet Law
Ms. Asumin cautioned that the recommendations were not yet law and would have to go through the appropriate constitutional and legislative processes.
She explained that while some provisions could be amended through Parliament, entrenched provisions would require the additional referendum process prescribed by the Constitution.
She disclosed that Government had inaugurated an 11-member Constitution Review Implementation Committee chaired by Presidential Legal Counsel and former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Marietta Brew.
The committee is expected to examine the recommendations alongside the Government’s position paper and develop a framework for implementing the proposals accepted by Government.
Reforms May Cross 2028
Ms. Asumin said the scale of the reforms raised concerns about whether the process could be completed before the 2028 general election.
She said the proposals reportedly involved more than 50 amendments and over 14 bills, including new legislation and amendments to existing laws.
She said civil society groups were therefore pushing for a legally binding framework to ensure that the reform process continued even if there was a change of government or Parliament.
Without such a framework, she warned, the process could lose momentum or be interrupted by political transitions.
Media Role
The Amnesty International representative said the media had a critical responsibility to ensure that the constitutional reform conversation reached ordinary citizens across the country.
She said civic education should not be concentrated in Accra, Kumasi and other major urban centres, but should extend to communities with limited access to traditional media, digital platforms and formal civic education programmes.
She urged journalists to provide accurate, balanced and issue-based reports on the reforms to help citizens understand the proposals and participate in the process.
Women, PWDs
The engagement also highlighted the need for broader representation in Ghana’s political and decision-making structures.
Ms. Asumin said the Affirmative Action Law Coalition and other women’s rights organisations were advocating proportional representation and the constitutional entrenchment of gender quotas.
She also stressed the importance of ensuring that young people, persons with disabilities and other groups had opportunities to participate in the reform process.
She said the constitutional reform debate should not be left to politicians, lawyers, academics and government officials alone.
The two-day engagement, which began on Tuesday, is being facilitated by Gifty Nti Konadu, a CDD-Ghana/CPCR representative, Christopher Dapaah of the Local Government Network and members of the CPCR Regional Coordinating Team.
The organisers said the programme was designed to equip journalists with the knowledge needed to provide credible and balanced coverage of the reform process and facilitate informed public participation.
FROM David Afum, Kumasi