Former Chairperson of Ghana’s Electoral Commission, Charlotte Osei, has called for restraint and balance in the country’s ongoing constitutional reform process, warning that efforts to fix existing flaws must not inadvertently create new ones.
Her remarks came days after the Constitution Review Committee (CRC) submitted its final report to President John Dramani Mahama on Monday, December 22. The report outlines sweeping recommendations, including separating the legislature from the executive, reaffirming the constitutional bar on a third presidential term, the establishment of an independent anti corruption agency and extending the presidential mandate from four to five years.
Speaking on Joy News on Saturday, December 27, Ms. Osei underscored that the committee’s work was guided by fairness across public institutions.
“It is not just a matter of picking one aspect and saying ‘scrap it, when you remove an existing arrangement, what replaces it?” She said. “We were very mindful not to create problems while trying to solve existing problems. If we do not have the expertise to set emoluments ourselves, it is logical to leave that to the experts.”
Ms. Osei, who served as a member of the Constitutional Review Committee, described the committee’s approach as deliberate and exhaustive. “We have a document of about a hundred pages in which we examined, clause by clause, all the recommendations previously made,” she explained. “We recorded our own assessments in a separate column and began with the history, while also engaging the public to obtain feedback and decide whether to follow the existing recommendations or chart a new path.” She said.
One of the most sensitive issues, she noted, was Article 71, which governs the remuneration of public officeholders. “This issue has appeared in every previous report,” she said. “We decided to adopt a holistic approach through a one-stop Public Emoluments Commission, such as the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission. This allows us to address ex gratia payments and other concerns fairly and comprehensively, rather than simply abolishing arrangements without providing a practical alternative.”
The former Electoral Commission chair also reflected on lessons from past local government reforms, cautioning that constitutional commissions often struggle to implement solutions that stand the test of time.
In February 2025, President John Mahama fulfilled a key campaign promise by inaugurating an eight-member Constitutional Review Committee. Chaired by Professor Henry Kwasi Prempeh, the body was charged with collecting written submissions and engaging stakeholders across the country as it examined potential amendments to Ghana’s 1992 Constitution. With a mission to reinforce democratic governance, the committee was given six months to present its recommendations to the presidency. On 22nd December, 2025, the committee presented its findings to the President at the Jubilee House. An implementation committee is expected to be formed in January 2026 to begin the next phase of the committee’s report.
