NPP rejects current constitutional review process, demands Consultative Assembly

The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has rejected the current approach to reviewing Ghana’s 1992 Constitution and called for the establishment of a Consultative Assembly to deliberate on the proposed changes.

Member of Parliament for Ofoase-Ayirebi, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, said the scale of the proposed reforms goes beyond what should be treated as routine amendments under Chapter 25 of the Constitution.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, September 17, 2026, he said the NPP would oppose the proposed amendments in Parliament and campaign against them at the referendum.

“The New Patriotic Party therefore rejects this approach being pursued by the NDC government in essentially rewriting the 1992 Constitution,” he stated.

Mr Oppong Nkrumah acknowledged that the 1992 Constitution contains provisions that could be improved to strengthen accountability, decentralisation and public institutions.

However, he argued that the breadth of the proposals under consideration amounts to a fundamental overhaul of the constitutional order.

The Constitution Review Committee’s report contains 206 proposals, comprising 147 proposed amendments to existing provisions and 59 entirely new provisions.

Mr Oppong Nkrumah said the proposals affect major areas of governance, including the Executive, Parliament, the Judiciary, independent constitutional bodies and local government.

“Amendments to 147 of 299 articles, together with 59 new provisions—that is 206 propositions in all—reaching into the executive, the legislature, the judiciary, independent constitutional bodies, and local government, is not just an adjustment to some provisions of the Constitution. They amount to the overhaul of the Constitution and in substance the enactment of a new one,” he said.

He argued that changes of such magnitude should not be processed solely through Parliament and a referendum.

“A change of that magnitude cannot be treated as routine business under Chapter 25, to be carried through a parliamentary session and then a referendum.”

Mr Oppong Nkrumah also criticised what he described as significant differences between the recommendations of the Constitution Review Committee and the government's position.

He claimed that the government had substituted its own preferences for many of the committee's recommendations.

“Out of the 147 recommendations, about 100 of them—that is 68%—the NDC government has substituted their own preference for the views of the independent committee that the President himself put together,” he alleged.

He further accused the government of limiting further consultation on the proposals and said there had been no platform for political parties, organised labour, professional groups and other identifiable groups to resolve areas of disagreement.

The government, however, has said the Constitution Review Committee itself undertook extensive consultations, including engagements with more than 21,500 people, 10 thematic stakeholder engagements involving more than 500 experts and practitioners, and consideration of 785 written submissions.

The government has also established an 11-member Constitution Review Implementation Committee to examine its position paper alongside the Constitution Review Committee's report and develop a framework for implementing the proposals.

Mr Oppong Nkrumah said the NPP's preferred approach would involve an expert body developing proposals which would then be subjected to detailed consideration by a broad and representative assembly before they are given legal effect.

“A change of this magnitude to the constitutional order of our nation should follow the time-tested path by which Ghana has made every such change. First, the work of an expert body deliberated and settled upon by a broad and representative assembly and only then given the force of law,” he stated.

He cited Ghana's constitutional experiences in 1969, 1979 and 1992 as examples of processes that, in the NPP's view, provide a basis for broader deliberation.

“This is how it was done in 1969, in 1979, and in 1992. And that is what we are calling on the government to respect now,” he said.

The NPP's position adds to calls from other stakeholders for broader consultation on the proposed constitutional changes, including concerns about the process and timeline for implementing the reforms.

The government has indicated that amendments to entrenched provisions will ultimately be subjected to a national referendum, while non-entrenched provisions will follow the parliamentary amendment process prescribed by the Constitution.

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