Limited Executive Power

For true democracy, we cannot have the kind of monstrous executive as we have now where the President appoints and controls all those that matter in governance, economy, local government and resource control. This only creates a situation where everybody wants to be in the good books of the President or his party in order to keep their jobs. They are therefore not able to serve the nation without undue political pressures, including even so-called independent constitutional bodies like the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE), the Auditor-General, the Head of the Civil Service, the Inspector-General of Police, the Controller and Accountant-General.

The President literally appoints everybody

This is the doing of the 1992 Sakawa Constitution, which gives excessive power to the executive. The President literally appoints everybody that matters in the system, so everybody works to please him. Too much power in the hands of one person is dangerous.

  1. Ministers of State; (Article 78)
  2. Deputy Ministers of State; (Article 79)
  3. Head of Civil Service (Article 193 (1)
  4. Other officers in the public service (Article 195 (1)
  5. The Commissioner for Human Rights and Administrative Justice and her Deputies; (Article 217)
  6. The Chairman, Deputies and other members of the National Commission for Civic Education; (Article 232 (2).
  7. The Chairmen and other members of the Public Services Commission; (Article 70, 195)
  8. The Chairmen and other members of the Lands Commission; (Article 70)
  9. The Chairmen and other members of the governing bodies of public corporations; (Article 70 (1d) iii)
  10. The Chairmen and other members of the National Council for Higher Education (Article 70)
  11. The Chairman, Deputy Chairmen, and other members of the Electoral Commission; (Article 43, Article 70)
  12. The Government Statistician; (Article 185)
  13.  The Auditor-General; (Article 88)
  14.  The Chairman and Members of the Audit Board;
  15.  The District Assemblies Common Fund Administrator
  16. The Inspector-General of Police; (Article 202)
  17.  The Director-General of the Ghana Prisons Service (Article 207)
  18. The Chief of Defence Staff; (Article 212 (1a)
  19. The Service Chiefs and Officers; Article 212 (1b)
  20.  Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Chief Executives; (Article 243)
  21. 30% Assembly members (Article 242 (d).
  22. The Chairman and members of the National Development Planning Commission (Article 86)
  23. Chief Justice (Article 144 (1)
  24. Justices of the Supreme Court (Article 144 (2)
  25. Justices of the Court of Appeal (Article 144 (3)
  26. Justices of the High Court (Article 144 (5)
  27. Chairmen of Regional Tribunals (Article 144 (5)
  28. Heads of Public Corporations
  29. The Governor of the Bank of Ghana; (Article 183 (4a)