Yes, it will delay us, but democracy isn't meant to be fast - Kwasi Prempeh on Constitution Review

Prof H. Kwasi Prempeh, Chairman of the Constitution Review Committee, defended calls for broader public deliberation on Ghana's constitutional review process on Monday on JoyNews' PM Express. He insisted that while it may slow the timetable, democracy and constitution-making are not designed to be fast. Prof Prempeh stated, "Constitutions are different; they are forward-looking. They last at least a generation. They set the foundational rules of the game for how the country is to be governed, how we recruit our national political leadership, how we exit them, how we distribute power, and these things transcend party governments."

Prof Prempeh hopes the political class, described as the gatekeepers of the review process, will approach the exercise with patriotism rather than partisan interests. He urged political leaders to think beyond their time in office and consider the kind of country future generations would inherit. He argued that if the process is seen as "just a zero-sum game of another way for one incumbent party to get their preferences vis-à-vis the rival party," then an opportunity for "real game-changing reforms" would be lost.