A coalition of civil society organisations has launched the Ashanti Regional chapter of the CSO/Citizen Platform on Constitutional Reform in Kumasi, aimed at strengthening citizen participation in Ghana’s ongoing constitutional review process.

‎The platform seeks to amplify public voices and encourage inclusive engagement as the country considers possible reforms to the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.
‎‎Madam Rebecca Ekpe, Deputy Chairperson of the Citizen Platform on Constitutional Reform, speaking at the launch, said the initiative represented an important step toward ensuring that citizens actively contributed to shaping the constitutional future of the country.

‎‎According to her, Ghana’s Constitution remained the foundation of democratic governance, defining how power was exercised, how accountability was enforced and how citizens’ rights were protected.

‎‎However, she noted that the document must evolve to reflect changing governance realities and the aspirations of the people.
‎‎Madam Ekpe explained that, although the Constitution had guided the country’s democratic system under the Fourth Republic for more than three decades, several governance challenges had emerged over the years.

‎‎These include concerns about executive dominance, weak separation of powers, limited decentralisation and accountability gaps.
‎It would be recalled that President John Dramani Mahama established a Constitutional Review Committee chaired by Prof. Henry Kwasi Prempeh, Executive Director of Centre for Democratic Development Ghana (CDD-Ghana), to make recommendations for reviewing the Constitution.

‎‎The committee’s mandate included consulting stakeholders across the country and reviewing earlier constitutional reform efforts undertaken in 2011 and 2024.
‎‎The committee submitted a summary report in December 2025 and later presented the full report to the Office of the President in January 2026.
‎Madam Ekpe said the ongoing constitutional review presents a critical opportunity to rebuild public trust in democratic institutions and reform processes.
‎She observed that previous reform initiatives had stalled, leaving many citizens feeling excluded from decision-making processes.
‎Constitutional reform requires active citizen participation because public input helps shape priorities and reduces the likelihood of reforms being undermined by partisan interests,” she said.