The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has raised concerns about the current process for reviewing Ghana’s 1992 Constitution, advocating instead for the establishment of a Consultative Assembly to consider the proposed reforms.
Ofoase-Ayirebi Member of Parliament, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, argued that the scope of the proposed changes is too extensive to be handled as routine constitutional amendments under Chapter 25 of the Constitution.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, September 17, 2026, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said the NPP would resist the proposed amendments in Parliament and oppose them if they are put to a 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 has provisions that could be reviewed to enhance accountability, deepen decentralisation and strengthen public institutions.
However, he contended that the scope of the proposed reforms goes beyond targeted amendments and amounts to a broader restructuring of Ghana’s constitutional framework.
The Constitution Review Committee’s report sets out 206 proposals, including 147 amendments to existing provisions and 59 new provisions.
Mr Oppong Nkrumah said the recommendations cover several key areas of governance, spanning the Executive, Parliament, 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 reforms of such magnitude should not be undertaken solely through parliamentary consideration 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 raised concerns about what he described as notable differences between the Constitution Review Committee’s recommendations and the government’s position.
He alleged that the government had departed from several of the committee’s recommendations and introduced its own preferred proposals in their place.
“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 curtailing broader consultations on the proposed reforms, arguing that no adequate platform had been provided for political parties, organised labour, professional bodies and other stakeholder groups to engage on areas of disagreement.
The government, however, maintains that the Constitution Review Committee conducted extensive consultations, engaging more than 21,500 people, holding 10 thematic stakeholder sessions involving over 500 experts and practitioners, and considering 785 written submissions.
The government has also set up an 11-member Constitution Review Implementation Committee to assess its position paper alongside the Constitution Review Committee’s report and propose a framework for implementing the recommendations.
Mr Oppong Nkrumah said the NPP instead favours a process in which an expert body develops the proposals, which would then be subjected to detailed scrutiny by a broad and representative assembly before being 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 comes amid calls from some stakeholders for broader consultations on the proposed constitutional reforms, with concerns also raised about the process and timeline for implementing the changes.
The government has said proposed changes to entrenched provisions will ultimately be put to a national referendum, while amendments to non-entrenched provisions will be considered through the parliamentary process set out in the Constitution.