Too much executive power threatens Ghana’s fight against corruption-Emmanuel Wilson Jr.
Chief crusader for the Crusaders Against Corruption- Ghana, Emmanuel Wilson Jnr
According to Mr. Emmanuel Wilson Junior, Chief Crusader of the Crusaders Against Corruption, Ghana’s fight against corruption is hindered by a failure to review the 1992 Constitution.
“The 1992 Constitution gives state institutions powers to fight against corruption with the left hand and uses the right hand to take away those powers.”
Speaking on the topic: “Is the fight against corruption a mirage or a reality?” During the Ghana News Agency-Tema Industrial News Hub Boardroom Dialogue, which was observed by CDA Consult, Mr. Wilson expressed concern over the President’s excessive power.
The 1992 Ghanaian Constitution has disarmed state institutions tasked with combating corruption. It also consolidates too much power in the hands of the President, who appoints heads of state-owned institutions, including those tasked with fighting corruption.
Mr. Wilson went on to say, “if a president or government has all the authority to appoint and ‘disappoint’ then it was expected that the appointee, especially those to institutions mandated to fight against corruption are covertly disarmed” .
He suggested that aligning with a political party could secure one’s freedom after engaging in corrupt acts.
Mr. Wilson Jnr. questioned why former President John Dramani Mahama and current President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo have yet to execute the Constitution Review Commissions Report following the death of late President Professor John Evans Atta Mills.
He deduced that politicians would not want an amendment to the constitution because of the influence they have when in government, underlining that “till we decide that as a nation we will put pressure on them to let us have an amendment of the constitution, the fight against corruption will be a mirage.”
