Ghanaian lawyer and former President of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA), Yaw Acheampong Boafo, has expressed reservations about the current constitutional review process in Ghana.
Speaking on Metro TV’s Good Evening Ghana with Paul Adom-Otchere, monitored by MyNewsGh, he questioned the leadership of the committee overseeing the review.
“Paul, it’s unfortunate for me personally. I’m not really a fan of the whole constitutional review process,” Boafo said.
“Our constitutional history has always taught us that review committees are chaired by persons who have the right to practise in Ghana. I don’t get that now.”
He highlighted the credentials of past committee heads, such as S.K.B. Asante, a former Solicitor General, and Professor Albert Fiadjoe, a respected comparative law scholar.
“I would rather we have someone called to the Ghana Bar leading this committee,” Boafo stressed.
While acknowledging the current committee has lawyers, Boafo added, “He’s a fine, brilliant individual, Yale-educated, but if you’re not called to the bar in Ghana, we cannot consider you properly one of us.”
Boafo warned that the daily realities of legal practice give lawyers a unique perspective necessary for effective constitutional review.
“Talking about things is different from practising them,” he noted. “I would rather somebody who deals with these processes daily, more than a civil society person.”
